Re: [cr-india] IB Ministry to increase control over FM radio content (Source: MM Network)
On 26 October 2012 14:46, ram bhat r...@maraa.in wrote: The CR policy is undergoing review at the moment, and we have revised the clause to now say - broadcast of news and current affairs is permitted. the policy will be up for approval from the Cabinet. I would have assumed the broadcast of news is the default position for radio. All they have to do is remove clause 5(vi), which bans news, from the CR Guidelines. The Home Ministry, which makes our broadcast laws, will not approve of the news clause. It is well known that our Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which have cornered most of the CR licences, are hotbeds of anti-national sentiment and threats to national security. Sajan In case the Cabinet does not approve of the news clause, then I think we should seriously consider the legal approach. Right now, it would be a bit premature since the govt is already considering it. best, Ram On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 2:00 PM, Pranesh Prakash pran...@cis-india.orgwrote: Has anyone in the CR world challenged / thought of challenging the no-broadcast-of-news (and now no-broadcast-of-news-other-**than-AIR-news) rule? ~ Pranesh Vickram Crishna [2012-10-25 11:21]: Yes, almost anything the government does in the context of free speech (or, for that matter, freedom) is amusing, if not downright hilarious. But, I wonder how this working group proposes to coordinate news across the country. Could they have envisaged networking a gaggle of local stations? Don't they know that they themselves banned such networking, one of the major factors braking the development of community level broadcasting in India, since it prevents our channels from sharing their learning effectively. I must say, I am delighted to hear they plan to institute some means of monitoring content as it is being broadcast - that will both increase employment across the country and help us all understand what vulgar means in hundreds of different languages, plus of course generate a vast amount of business for lawyers. The economy is sure to boom once all those unfortunates get work. I also assume this means that radio is now going to become a state or even district subject, unless the ministry intends to post its secretaries out to the districts to work. ://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com __**__ From: N.Ramakrishnan n...@ideosyncmedia.org To: cr-india@sarai.net cr-india@sarai.net Sent: Thursday, 25 October 2012, 9:30 Subject: [cr-india] IB Ministry to increase control over FM radio content (Source: MM Network) Funny how the word 'control' underlines everything to do with FM radio, commercial or otherwise. The AIR code, of course, includes such gems as the exhortation to not say anything negative about 'friendly neighbouring countries', which should make us feel relatively safe, because that's an oxymoron. I love the part about the need for a 'nationwide news and current affairs FM channel', in one fell swoop removing the 'local' in local radio. Read and weep. Ramakrishnan General Secretary, CRF IB Ministry to increase control over FM radio content October 23, 2012 Source: MM Network By: MediaMughals The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (IB) is considering of evolving a mechanism to monitor the contents aired by private FM radio channels. Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) of the IB Ministry has specified that the EMMC will not only monitor the contents aired by TV channels but also those of private FM channels and community radio channels. A working group set up by the Planning Commission to prepare the Ministry’s 12th Five Year Plan has suggested the government to strengthen the capacity of the EMMC. At a programme on Monday, Uday Kumar, Secretary, IB, hinted that the system would come into place from the beginning of the 12th Five Year Plan. Further the Ministry has taken umbrage at the manner in which some private FM channels broadcast ‘vulgar and objectionable content’ especially during the night hour. Reiterating that the FM channels are duty bound under the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) to follow the Programme and Advertising Codes being followed by All India Radio, the Ministry advised all channels to strictly adhere to these Codes and not air anything in violation of the Codes. The government has recently announced policy guidelines on the expansion of FM radio broadcasting which will extend radio’s reach to 294 towns and 839 stations. Meanwhile, the Working Group has also suggested that the government should pay special attention to improve FM coverage in the 12th plan. At least, one dedicated nationwide news and current affairs FM channel should be introduced. It also suggested the government to consider introducing dedicated FM channels for classical music and other cultural programmes. -- N.Ramakrishnan Director of Projects
Re: [cr-india] IB Ministry to increase control over FM radio content (Source: MM Network)
On 26 October 2012 14:46, ram bhat r...@maraa.in wrote: The CR policy is undergoing review at the moment, and we have revised the clause to now say - broadcast of news and current affairs is permitted. the policy will be up for approval from the Cabinet. I would have assumed the broadcast of news is the default position for radio. All they have to do is remove clause 5(vi), which bans news, from the CR Guidelines. The Home Ministry, which makes our broadcast laws, will not approve of the news clause. It is well known that our educational institutions and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which have cornered most of the CR licences, are hotbeds of anti-national sentiment and threats to national security. Sajan In case the Cabinet does not approve of the news clause, then I think we should seriously consider the legal approach. Right now, it would be a bit premature since the govt is already considering it. best, Ram On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 2:00 PM, Pranesh Prakash pran...@cis-india.orgwrote: Has anyone in the CR world challenged / thought of challenging the no-broadcast-of-news (and now no-broadcast-of-news-other-**than-AIR-news) rule? ~ Pranesh Vickram Crishna [2012-10-25 11:21]: Yes, almost anything the government does in the context of free speech (or, for that matter, freedom) is amusing, if not downright hilarious. But, I wonder how this working group proposes to coordinate news across the country. Could they have envisaged networking a gaggle of local stations? Don't they know that they themselves banned such networking, one of the major factors braking the development of community level broadcasting in India, since it prevents our channels from sharing their learning effectively. I must say, I am delighted to hear they plan to institute some means of monitoring content as it is being broadcast - that will both increase employment across the country and help us all understand what vulgar means in hundreds of different languages, plus of course generate a vast amount of business for lawyers. The economy is sure to boom once all those unfortunates get work. I also assume this means that radio is now going to become a state or even district subject, unless the ministry intends to post its secretaries out to the districts to work. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Jago Mumbai CR goes off air
*CR Jago Mumbai temporarily goes off-air*http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/cr-jago-mumbai-temporarily-goes-air Radioandmusic.com, 05 Feb 13 MUMBAI: Even as the government takes phlegmatic measures to improve the state of community radio stations in the country, Mumbai’s first community radio Jago Mumbai has temporarily gone off-air citing issues related to financial losses. A community radio initiative by the residents of Bandra, the decision to stop the broadcast was taken by its producers Union Park Residents Association (UPRA) after the Union Park building management decided to cut short the lease period to just 12 months. Stating that the short lease period was not viable for the station to function, UPRA decided to take the CR off-air until a more affordable location is found. Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, Jaago Mumbai station head creative programming Nitin Makasare said, “Jago Mumbai has been taken off-air temporarily as our lease period expired and the renewal procedure was not feasible to us. While we were getting the lease only for 12 months, the rent stated was also very high. But it is a temporary shutdown and we will surely be back once we find a suitable location nearby.” Operating from the Union Park building in Bandra, the station is aiming to come up in the nearby areas of Khar and Bandra only and is currently scouting for locations. The station which was available on radio wave FM 107.8, is presently podcasting its programs and uploading the audio files of their shows on their website top continue their engagement with their listeners. But inspite of the efforts taken to ensure continuity with their listeners, the temporary shutdown has already affected the station negatively and might incur further losses. He added, “It is obvious that our temporary shutdown has started affecting the station negatively and we are incurring more losses but the move was inevitable. All this has happened because of the financial constraints that we have been facing since last year and it’s just getting more difficult for us now. We are now strategizing to turn our losses into profits soon.” As reported by Radioandmusic.com earlier, the station managed to fare decently in the past year inspite of facing a manpower shortage and financial crunch. Makasare had then stated that 2013 will be another tough year for them with no funds coming in, making it difficult to sustain the station. http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/cr-jago-mumbai-temporarily-goes-air Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] 2013 to be a tough year for Community Radio stations
2013 to be a tough year for Community Radio stationshttp://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/2013-be-a-tough-year-community-radio-stations Chandni Mathur | Radioandmusic.com | 8 Jan 13 MUMBAI: Serving the special interests of different communities on an indirect platform, community radio (CR) stations play a very important role in India.Though the government has been working towards the progress of CR, the failure in implementing several decisions has led to a major loss. With around 125 CRs currently operational in the country, the government had formulated many decisions last year to help fund them as most of the stations are non-profitable and earning revenues is one of the major issues restricting their survival. The government had announced a fund of Rs 50 lakhs and also approved to provide advertisements from DAVP to the stations for a period of one year; but broadcasters say that these decisions are yet to be implemented and the money has not reached them yet. Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, Jaago Mumbai station head creative programming Nitin Makasare said, “The year was pretty neutral for most community radio stations. Though some relief was provided by the government through the CR fund and the DAVP ads, the money for both has not been released yet so its been of no use to us. We even went to Delhi, met the government officials and worked on the requirements, but it is yet to be processed by the government.” Inspite of a hand-to-mouth existence, Jaago Mumbai has managed to fare pretty well in 2012. The channel gained with its visibility increasing and even on-ground activations helping in engaging more listeners. Also with most mainstream brands and companies looking now to associate with the stations for campaigns and initiatives, the content and reach of the station is substantially growing. “The station is developing and growing slowly. Some help has come from the government since we are non-commercial functioning platforms, but we still need more help from them and unlike in other countries, it is very much lacking in India. If you have funds its easier to manage, but otherwise we are all surviving through a hand to mouth existence,” he commented. Some of the major challenges still haunting the space include power and finances, apart from the government’s laidback attitude. While the commercial radio stations have high power transmitters (10kw and above), community radio transmitters are very low power transmitters (100watt of effective radiated power) which results in a marketing problem for most CR. Being very constrained in finances, the stations also face a manpower problem being able to afford only 5-7 members in the internal team. Community radio broadcasters state that while in 2012 they faced a financial crunch, 2013 is set to be another tough year with no funds coming in. Echoing the grievances, Maksare highlighted, “The issue of finance and transmission still remains. We rarely managed to sustain ourselves last year and this year will be another tough one for us. Things need to change quickly and the government should help us. Right now, we are only trying to take care of our finances to survive the first quarter and only after that will we be able to come up with new strategies to sustain ourselves for the rest of the year.” http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/2013-be-a-tough-year-community-radio-stations Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community radio under threat as govt mulls auctioning spectrum - ToI
The Times of India reported yesterday that Community radio may get a new lease of lifehttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-may-get-a-new-lease-of-life/articleshow/16483200.cms as the telecom ministry is likely to waive the spectrum fee for CR stations. ToI reports todayhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-under-threat-as-govt-mulls-auctioning-spectrum/articleshow/16497852.cms, in what could prove to be a death-blow for the fledgling community radio industry, the telecom ministry is examining whether spectrum for them should be auctioned. Evidently, the Times is as clueless as the rest of us regarding the Telecom Ministry's intentions. I wish Mr. Sibal luck in auctioning CR spectrum in those parts of India where we are most eager to encourage community radio, like the North East, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, JK, our island territories and rural India in general, especially those remote areas where commercial FM networks do themselves serious injury in their frantic attempts to buy radio spectrum. Sajan Community radio under threat as govt mulls auctioning spectrumhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-under-threat-as-govt-mulls-auctioning-spectrum/articleshow/16497852.cms Himanshi Dhawan, TNN | Sep 22, 2012 NEW DELHI: In what could prove to be the deathblow for the fledgling community radioindustry, the telecom ministry is examining whether spectrum for them should be auctioned. The ministry has, in fact, stopped giving clearances for community radio projects as a result of which 166 applications have been pending for the past nine months. The ministry's reluctance comes following the Supreme Court order in the 2G spectrum case. Sources said there was concern in the government that the auction route would effectively strangle the nascent industry that continues to struggle for stable financial resources. There are 140 community radio stations in the country, predominantly run by educational institutions, small communities, NGOs and in some cases even gram panchayats. According to sources, the wireless planning and coordination (WPC) department of the telecom ministry had stopped providing clearances to community radio applications for the last nine months. A source said, There are 166 applications pending with WPC and the IB ministry is unable to issue any new permission because of this. There are 267 applications pending at various stages currently. It is also learnt that the WPC wing had kept all matters relating to the use of spectrum on hold after the SC decision in the 2G case. The WPC wing is learnt to be examining whether spectrum for community radio should be auctioned. According to the IB ministry, community radio has played an important role and has been instrumental in conveying the Indian government's development schemes and providing access to media-dark areas. Several successful experiments of mobilizing local communities for encouraging local dialects, projects and conveying government messages have been documented in recent years. However, the proposal to auction spectrum for community radio will effectively end the project's progress. However, the telecom ministry has relented and is likely to waive off spectrum fees that had been hiked from Rs 19,000 to Rs 93,000 recently. The hike in spectrum fee was met with protests from the community radio industry which even met telecom minister Kapil Sibal to register their opposition. This was followed by a letter recommending a rollback from IB secretary U K Varma to the telecom secretary. Community radio may get a new lease of lifehttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-may-get-a-new-lease-of-life/articleshow/16483200.cms TNN | Sep 21, 2012 NEW DELHI: The telecom ministry is likely to waive off spectrum fee for community radio stations following demands for a rollback from information and broadcasting (IB) ministry and community radio (CR) organizations. The spectrum fee is a prohibitive Rs 93,000 for a year. According to sources, the issue of the high spectrum fee was raised by IB ministerAmbika Soni with telecom minister Kapil Sibalon Thursday pressing the point that the fee would have damaging repercussions on the government's development agenda. The telecom ministry had recently increased fee for community radio stations by five times from Rs 19,000 to Rs 93,000, sparking protests from those running CR projects. IB secretary U K Varma had written to the telecom secretary saying that the ministry's views were not sought before the decision was taken. This five-fold increase in spectrum fee would have a crippling impact on the growth of community radio stations in India as many organizations would find it impossible to meet this huge increase in royalty charges, the letter written to telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar had said. The ministry has so far given 370 permissions to various NGOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and recognized educational
Re: [cr-india] community radio in India - status update
On 19 August 2012 20:15, Arti Jaiman a...@trfindia.org wrote: How is that possible - I thought the official memo had been released about the Rs 4 rate? Yes, there is an undated documenthttp://davp.nic.in/writereaddata/announce/cm_g_rate_card.pdfon the DAVP site giving the new guidelines for DAVP empanelment and the revised rate of Rs.4 per sec. But their list of empanelled CR stations which I quotedhttp://davp.nic.in/em_rc_agn_list_26122011.pdfstill mentions Re.1. Maybe they forgot to update it. Sajan Arti Jaiman Station Director : Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station 107.8 MHz FM email: a...@trfindia.org website: www.trfindia.org Gurgaon Ki Awaaz is the first and only civil-society-led community radio station in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Since 2009, we have been broadcasting 22X7, in Hindi and Haryanvi, with a team of community reporters who generate community content with community participation. --- On *Sun, 19/8/12, sajan venniyoor venniy...@gmail.com* wrote: From: sajan venniyoor venniy...@gmail.com Subject: [cr-india] community radio in India - status update To: CR India cr-india@sarai.net Date: Sunday, 19 August, 2012, 11:22 AM Here is the latest listhttp://mib.nic.in/ShowContent.aspx?uid1=2uid2=3uid3=0uid4=0uid5=0uid6=0uid7=0of operational CR stations, LoI holders, applicants etc, as on 3 Aug 2012. There isn't much to cheer about -- ten years after the first CR Policy was unveiled, we have 135 operational community radio stations, of which about 40 are licensed to civil society bodies. The rest of the licenses have gone to universities, private educational institutions and the occasional KVK. Even among the 42 NGO-run CR stations, I would be surprised if more than ten are in rural India. Of the 371 Letters of Intent issued so far, Tamil Nadu has the maximum of 51, of which 44 have been granted to educational institutions -- mostly private colleges -- and 7 to NGOs. Maharashtra, on the other hand, has 42 LoIs, of which 28 have gone to civil society organizations. - No. of applications received so far from 2004 to 01.08.2012: (including 104 against old guidelines): 1083 - Letters of Intent (LOI) issued: 371 - Grant of Permission of Agreement(GOPA) signed: 180 - Operational Community Radio Stations: 135 - Number of applications rejected: 445 - Applications under process: 267 Elsewhere, in terms of advertising support for CR stations, only 9 stations have been empanelled with DAVPhttp://davp.nic.in/em_rc_agn_list_26122011.pdf. I hope the Forum or the stations listed below can give us an idea of the quantum of ads released by DAVP annually to CR stations. List of Community Radio Stations empanelled with DAVP till 31st March, 2012. 1. Radio Mewat, Nuh, Mewat, 2. Kumayun Vani, Mukhteshwar (TERI) 3. Radio Namashkar, Konark, Orissa 4. Siwan Vani, Siwan, Bihar 5. Gyan Taranga, Assam 6. Radio Mattoli, Kerala 7. Hint Radio, Ghaziabad 8. Sangham Radio, Hyderabad 9. Jago Mumbai, Mumbai These CRS are empanelled with DAVP at the rate of Rs.1 per second. Sajan -Inline Attachment Follows- Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Waqt Ki Awaaz
[From Rakesh Pandey, Shramik Bharti, Kanpur] Dear All, Greetings from Shramik Bharti! Shramik Bharti signed Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) with Ministry of Information Broadcasting, GoI to Establish maintain and operate (Waqt Ki Awaaz) Community Radio Station in Village Bairi Dariyav, Kanpur Dehat on 24th July’ 2012. Now we have planned to start trial broadcast on 28th August’ 2012. Regards, Rakesh Kumar Pandey | Sr. Manager (Programs) | Shramik Bharti | 392, Vikas Nagar, Kanpur - 208024, Uttar Pradesh, India Ph: 0091 - 512 - 2580823 / 2581091 | Mb: 9935535680 | web: www.shramikbharti.org.in | Skype: rakesh.pandey.kanpur Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Sectoral Innovation Council of IB recommends innovation in radio content
Sectoral Innovation Council of IB recommends innovation in radio contenthttp://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/sectoral-innovation-council-ib-recommends-innovation-radio-content#story RadioandMusic.com | 26 Jul 2012 NEW DELHI: The Sectoral Innovation Council of the Information and Broadcasting ministry (IB) has stated that content innovation is required in radio which is possible only if the Government comes up with a separate licensing model for niche channels. *The Council has recommended that the ministry can come up with a formal arrangement by which Community Radio Stations (CRS) can provide community-based programme content to All India Radio, while AIR can provide capacity building and training to CRS workers in content creation, management and operation of stations. * The Council has also said that the airwaves released by process of digitization in AIR and Doordarshan can be used for creating a public service broadcasting fund in line with the USO Fund in the telecom sector. The Council has suggested that the fund can be utilized exclusively for public service broadcasting. Reliable Single Source Data on all mediums of advertising should be made available by the Government so that advertisers are able to take decisions on reliable data. These recommendations have been made in the report submitted by the Sectoral Innovation Council of the Information and Broadcasting ministry to Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni. Soni said the issues deliberated upon by the Council would be looked into by the Ministry in the policy domain. She stated the recommendations made by the Council in different sectors of the Media and Entertainment would act as a roadmap in the future. The Council in its report has analysed the growth potential of the media and entertainment Industry by recommending changes in critical areas such as broadcasting, print media, animation, gaming and VFX, media education and films. The Council has made 64 recommendations in seven areas concerning the media and entertainment sector. The Council has also said that there is need for a National Media Policy that addresses the new media landscape and integrates all existing media segments and also looks into the emergent issues. It said that there is need for the Government to look into the existing licensing procedures and requirements to ensure further liberalization and reforms in the broadcasting sector. The Council has recommended that the ministry should institute National Awards for Innovation in different segments of media and entertainment sector. The Sectoral Innovation Council of the Information and Broadcasting ministry is the first amongst the various Sectoral Innovation Councils set up in various sectors of the Government to submit its report to the concerned Ministry. The primary objective of the Council was to design a policy ecosystem in which new ideas would be integrated into the mainstream and get converted into policy initiatives by the Government. The Sectoral Innovation Council was set up on 28 July 2011 as part of the Government of India’s initiative of declaring 2010-2020 as the Decade of Innovation. Accordingly, the Government set up a National Innovation Council with Sam Pitroda as Chairman and 16 distinguished members. The members of the Sectoral Innovation Council of the Information and Broadcasting ministry comprised of Swarup and 10 other distinguished members from the field of media and entertainment. *Source: * http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/sectoral-innovation-council-ib-recommends-innovation-radio-content#story Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Let the communities operate their radio stations
*Let the communities operate their radio stations, says Dr Sreedherhttp://edaa.in/updates/let-the-community-operate-their-radio-stations-says-dr-sreedher * Ek Duniya Anek Awaaz | 13 July 2012 *Dr R Sreedher, media expert and community media practitioner, who recently retired from the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) speaks to Rahul Kumar of OneWorld South Asia, on how the community radio should be entrusted in the hands of the people to make it a really empowering tool for social change. * OneWorld South Asia: Dr Sreedher, you are credited with starting the first educational radio station in India and, later, also the first community radio station. It’s been a long time since then, so how do you see the progress till now? Dr R Sreedher: I happened to start the first educational radio station called Gyanvani in 2001. It came as a bonanza to the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) when privatisation was taking place and the government decided to reserve one frequency for the social sector. They were afraid of giving it to the communities so they said, ‘let us reserve it for education’, so that is how IGNOU got 40 radio stations. I was able to start the first radio station in Allahabad on November 7, 2001, but unfortunately I left in 2003 and the way in which I visualised the educational radio channel did not happen. I wanted it to be a decentralised one with every centre having its own committee—deciding content. I saw it this way–local content, local school, colleges and local NGOs making use of the radio station. It has somehow become IGNOU-centric. So it is a failure to me. Educational radio channel is a failure because of lack of initiative, lack of innovation and lack of dedication. That is why I was thinking of starting a community radio channel because when one of the ministers of Information and Broadcasting saw four different languages, four different cultures were being projected through the educational channel, she told the minister of Human Resources Development that if this is good to be the role of educational radio, I don’t mind giving you frequencies to all colleges and universities to start a radio station. So that’s how it started. Seeing the success of the first few Gyanvani radio stations made them give low power radio transmitters to all other educational institutions, that is why the first campus community radio policy came into being in 2002. The guidelines were first notified in 2003 and we framed an application form. I was one of the parties to develop the form and they said, ‘don’t ask any questions, just ask the name and address and the institution’s name and address and we will be able to find out their antecedents and be able to give the license. I myself happened to apply for the first license for Anna University and found that even the guidelines of which I was part of, it took me more than a year to get the license. From one radio station in 2004, today it is more than 136 stations. That means the growth is good. People are expecting at least 1,000 radio stations very soon. We have already got 1,000 people applying for community radio stations. The applications may be held up with various ministries for various reasons, may be even the applicants themselves also but the growth is fine. Now, there will be a leap forward so I don’t think the community radio is non-starter, it is taking place but it is a slow growth. OWSA: You just mentioned that you are not very happy with the educational radio stations or do you think there have been improvements or innovations, particularly in content, in educational radio now? Sreedher: The educational FM radio channel of India, called Gyanvani, with 37 radio stations is degrading day by day—no new content is provided, no new talent is found and it has become a rotten government channel that is IGNOU-centric. There is no decentralisation as it has centralised programmes which are not meant for local students. I think something has to be done seriously to see that good content is produced, although the transmission and infrastructure is all complete. They don’t have good staff, so something drastic has to be done. Maybe the MoHRD is thinking that the educational channel was started by the NDA government therefore it should not take up this responsibility. But money is going down the drain. Ask anybody in Delhi if they have ever heard Gyanvani? Is Gyanvani as powerful as Radio Mirchi or Radio City? And it is also on the same transmitter and covers the same area. After 11 years of its inauguration in Delhi, nobody knows what is Gyanvani... why is the tax-payers money being wasted, I don’t understand. OWSA: Do you share the same pessimism regarding community radio also? Sreedher: No absolutely no. OWSA: And why so? Sreedher: See pessimism is given only by the so called community radio activists who are all armchair critics and don’t run community radio having associated themselves with some
[cr-india] TISS announces Post Graduate Diploma in Community Media, 2012-2013
[Mail forwarded by Xonzoi Barbora] Dear friends, Greetings from the School of Media and Cultural Studies (SMCS) at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences! And apologies for cross-posting :) We are introducing a new Post-Graduate Diploma programme in Community Media (2012-2013), in addition to our existing MA programme in Media and Cultural Studies. The course is also being offered as a Dual Degree for TISS alumni who have a Master's degree from the Institute. The course is designed for social workers, community activists and cultural organisers who are engaged in grassroots level activities, with the goal of supplementing their field efforts with knowledge, perspectives and skills to enable them to work with communities and facilitate expression of their concerns through the media. The programme will foster among students a critical understanding of the contemporary micro and macro level development issues and prevalent mainstream discourses and help them appreciate the role of community structures, institutions and dynamics in the context of using media for empowerment. The students will also be trained to use tools and technologies to make them proficient in designing, initiating, monitoring and evaluating media programmes in their respective communities. A detailed announcement of the course along with the application form and prospectus can be found on the TISS website: http://tiss.edu/announcement/pgdcm-applications-invited-2012-2013 We would be grateful if you could share this announcement with individuals and organisations who might be interested in joining this programme. Thanking you, Anjali and Jayasankar __ Anjali Monteiro, Ph.D., Professor Dean K.P. Jayasankar, Ph.D., Professor Chair, CCMP School of Media and Cultural Studies Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India Phone:+91 22 2552 5661 and +91 22 2552 5660 (Work) Fax: +91 22 25525050e-mail: contact[AT]monteiro-jayasankar[DOT]com URLs: www.cmcs.tiss.edu http://likeherelikethere.wordpress.com/ http://atwodayfair.wordpress.com/ http://ourfamily2007.wordpress.com/ http://naata.wordpress.com/ Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Marine Weather Radio Broadcast in Kollam
John Swamy, a very experienced sailor and an old friend, is volunteering his services in Kollam (Quilon), Kerala to transcribe marine weather data from the net into plain language for broadcasting through a community radio station in Kollam. The CR station is Radio Benziger, licensed to Bishop Benziger Hospital. I just had a telephonic conversation with Ansari at Radio Namaskar, who told me he's been broadcasting marine weather for a while over Radio Namaskar. He apparently gets his weather info off Accuweatherhttp://www.accuweather.com/, and they also call up the weather people in Bhubaneswar during extreme weather conditions. Now, Accuweather is probably not the best source for coastal weather in India. John Swamy gets his info off INCOIShttp://www.incois.gov.in/Incois/incois1024/index/index.jsp?res=1024, a more reliable source. Naguveer of Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli says they broadcast coastal weather during the North East monsoon months, October to December. They get it off the internet, too, from the IMD websitehttp://www.imd.gov.in/ . The important thing is that our coastal CR stations should systematize the way they gather information and ensure that their weather bulletins are both authentic and timely. As John says, the Indian Met Department should ideally provide marine weather feeds directly to media outlets, including CR stations. Like John in Kollam, maybe we could put systems in place to compile weather data and disseminate it to coastal CR stations (and inland ones as well). Sajan -- Forwarded message -- From: John Thekkayyam johnsw...@gmail.com Date: 7 July 2012 09:08 Beginning this Sunday, 08 July 2012, I will be transcribing raw marine weather data received from the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), into plain language for broadcasting through a community radio station in Kollam, Radio Benziger, that has its transmitter located less than a kilometer away from the Kollam beach. This will be the first radio station in India to transmit marine weather. My voluntary services to the community radio station is part of a community project for Rotary Club of Tangasseri, a club that has been working among fishing communities past ten years. The station will be broadcasting weather forecasts three times daily and we have evolved a small boat warning system -- INCOIS alerts us when the wind speed exceeds 20 knots and we issue a special alert for small boats informing them of the wind speed. We have also recorded safety at sea messages like, 10 things to do before setting out to sea in the monsoon etc that will be broadcast immediately after the weather. The weather broadcast will distinguish between inshore weather (0 to 50 km) and weather in the high seas (50 to 100 km). Wind direction and speed; wave height and direction, cloud cover, rain, and a strong wind warning for small boats will be broadcast as part of the weather forecast. The broadcast will be formally inaugurated by the Minister for Labour and Rehabilitation, Shibu Baby John in a meeting that has the Mayor, Bishop, T Peter, Rotary District Governor attending, on 08 July 2012, 5 pm. We did a press conference yesterday and got very good print media coverage with all the vernacular papers hailing this as a first time in India initiative. The Indian Express carries the story today and the Hindu correspondent said the paper will run the story tomorrow in its state page. I have been making some noise about marine weather in this forum for some time and Im now glad to be steering this initiative. I hope the Indian Meteorological Department will some day begin sending marine weather feeds in regional languages directly to media outlets and agencies on the Indian coast and make regular marine weather forecasts available to fisher communities on the entire Indian coast. John Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Don’t hike fee for community licence radio: Aruna Roy
[Thanks to Osama Manzar for this link] Don’t hike fee for community licence radio: Aruna Royhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dont-hike-fee-for-community-licence-radio-Aruna-Roy/articleshow/14738508.cms TNN | 8 Jul 2012 NEW DELHI: National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy has written to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi opposing the five-fold increase in licence fee for community radio. In a recent notification, the ministry for communications and information technology has increased licence fee from Rs 19,700 to Rs 91,000. In her petition, Roy said that the fee hike may be reconsidered, ``Community radio is a powerful tool for poor, not-for-profit companies meant to serve society. There have enormous benefits as an information and communication tool and are being used to great effect all over the country.'' Her letter was supported by community radio organizations like Digital Empowerment Forum, Barefoot College and Gram Panchayat Dandasli. Community radio operators have been petitioning an exemption in spectrum fees and are now instead faced with this mammoth fee hike, which will surely kill this fledgling initiative, Roy said. The issue had been raised by the information and broadcasting ministry with secretary U K Varma writing a letter to the DoT secretary R Chandrashekhar to reconsider the hiking of the fees in May, 2012. Community Radio Association members also met IT minister Kapil Sibal asking him to reconsider the hike. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dont-hike-fee-for-community-licence-radio-Aruna-Roy/articleshow/14738508.cms Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] 'Ignoring the voices of the marginalized' - from Amar Ujala, 4 July 2012
[Thanks to Anujaa Shukla for the link and Karan Minz for translating the story from Hindi] Ignoring the voices of marginalizedhttp://www.amarujala.com/Vichaar/Aalekh/community-radio-supreme-court-india-4-10-2953.html Mukul Srivastava | Amar Ujala | 04 July 2012 In February 1995, the Supreme Court of India gave a landmark judgment related to radio, that airwaves are public property. The decision paved the way for the multi-sectoral growth of radio, but in that transformation, the social arena in which the real India dwells was left behind. No one was particularly keen to hear the voices of rural India that dreams of hearing its own voice. But eventually, in that process of change, Community Radio – which caters to local needs and the common interests of its listeners – was born. It broadcasts programmes which are popular in the local area and talks about issues that are mostly neglected by the mainstream media. The operation of community radio is done at the community level and it is not for profit making. It helps to tell the tales and share the experiences of individuals, groups and communities. Earlier, we had two kinds of radio broadcasting: one was commercial and the other public service. Community Radio provides an option to those listeners who, through lack of numbers, don’t benefit from mainstream public radio, or, through lack of money, are of little interest to commercial broadcasters. Community radio stations use 50 watt transmitters which broadcast on the FM band, with a coverage area of 5 to 15 kilometres radius. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting does not allow the commercial exploitation of community radio. The main purpose of community radio is just to entertain but to generate awareness on health, education, environment etc and to preserve local cultures. They can broadcast a limited amount of advertising. In India, the total number of operational community radio stations is only 126. Given the population as well as linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, this number is not sufficient. Even our neighbours like Nepal and Sri Lanka are ahead of us when it comes to the reach of community radio. The government has given scant attention to the potential and scope of community radio. Till now, it was assumed that the community would take ownership and sustain their CR stations. The government was at best offering some concession on spectrum fees. Very recently, the licence fee was increased three times, from Rs 19000/- to Rs 91000/-, clearly demonstrating that the government only pays lip-service to development but won’t do a thing about it. In our Information Society, community radio can be a powerful tool to bridge the digital divide. But there is no help whatsoever from the government to support or promote the growth of this medium of the marginalized. This is why it becomes difficult to establish a radio station at the community level. The government spends crores of rupees in the name of increasing literacy, but it is reluctant to spend anything to encourage the growth of a medium that’s recognized as the best way to spread information and knowledge among communities. This fee hike will hamper the ongoing CR movement in country even more and will also discourage new applicants from applying for community radio licenses. Even All India Radio is now obsessed with their advertisement revenues. In this scenario, how to increase the number of community radio stations is still the big question. In a market-driven age, when companies do social service only to improve their brand image, it is futile to assume that the corporate sector will actually come forward and spend their money on real social causes. The fact remains that, barring a handful of community radio stations, most of them are unable to recover their day-to-day running costs. They want the government to exempt them at least from these annual spectrum fees. Is government willing to listen to their voice? http://www.amarujala.com/Vichaar/Aalekh/community-radio-supreme-court-india-4-10-2953.html Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Border areas to have 33 FM radio channels in Phase III
How encouraging. So it's just community radio they don't trust. If you were a commercial entity (not necessarily a broadcaster -- even a builder or dairy farmer would do), with 26% FDI from, say, China, they'd roll out the red carpet for you in border areas and give you massive concessions to set up FM stations. Local communities, though, are a threat to national security. Sajan Border areas to have 33 FM radio channels in Phase IIIhttp://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/border-areas-have-33-fm-radio-channels-phase-iii www.radioandmusic.com | 29 Jun 2012 NEW DELHI: The government is to allow bidders in Jammu and Kashmir, the North-eastern states and the Island territories to bid for FM Radio channels in Phase III even above the national limit on ownership of channels of 15 per cent per entity. 15 FM stations will be set up in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and 18 in the border areas of the seven states of North-east. This is being done to encourage bidding for channels in these areas, Information Broadcasting Ministry sources told Radioandmusic.com FM broadcasters in Jammu and Kashmir, North-eastern states and the island territories will be required to pay half the rate of annual license fee for an initial period of three years from the date from which the license fee becomes payable and the permission period of 15 years begins. The concessional fee had also been revised for FM channels already existing in these territories with effect of the issuance of the Guidelines of the third phase of FM Radio expansion in the country in July 2011. Apart from the fee relaxation, it is proposed that Prasar Bharati infrastructure would be made available at half the lease rentals for similar categories cities in these areas. FM Phase III expansion in the northeast, includes 31 in the seven states of the northeast, six in Jammu and Kashmir and nine in the island territories: three each in Daman and Diu, Lakshdweep, and Andaman and Nicobar. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Advisory: New Empanelment Guidelines Rates for Community Radio Stations (DAVP)
Directorate of Advertising Visual Publicity Government of India *ADVISORY: NEW EMPANELMENT GUIDELINES* * RATES FOR COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS* 1) The M/o IB, Government of India has issued revised Guidelines for Empanelment of Community Radio Stations (CRS) with DAVP 2) Further, the Ministry has also issued *Comprehensive Guidelines for Sponsored Programmes on Community Radio *that provides rates for broadcast of Sponsored Radio Programmes through CRS. 3) In the revised Empanelment Guidelines, the current spot rate of Re.1/- per second broadcast has been increased to Rs.4/- per second. These rates will be applicable with immediate effect. 4) Both the set of Guidelines mentioned at para 1) and 2) above are available on the DAVP website www.davp.nic.in. Sd/- (Nimish Rustagi) Dy. Director, DAVP 4.6.2012 ### The DAVP Guidelines and revised rates for Community Radio can be accessed here: http://www.davp.nic.in/writereaddata/announce/cm_g_rate_card.pdf Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Advisory: Clarification for Community Radio Stations - SERVICE TAX
Directorate of Advertising Visual Publicity Government of India *** *ADVISORY: CLARIFICATION FOR COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS - SERVICE TAXhttp://davp.nic.in/writereaddata/announce/cs_stax.pdf * * * * * It is clarified that the Community Radio Stations (CRS) that wish to apply for DAVP empanelment are asked to furnish their Service Tax Registration Number in the Online Application Formhttp://davp.nic.in/FRESH_CRS/em_rc_agn_fresh.aspxavailable on DAVP website www.davp.nic.in and submit a copy of the same while submitting their physical application. However, in case a CRS is exempt from registration for Service Tax under Rule 3(2) of the Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules 2005, and thus does not possess a Service Tax Registration Number, it may simply furnish a Self-Declaration along with its physical application for empanelment stating that it (i.e., CRS) is exempt from Service Tax Registration under Rule 3(2) of the Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules 2005. Sd/- (Nimish Rustagi) Dy. Director, DAVP 4.6.2012 -- ### - Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community radio: Giving a voice to the voiceless - column by Farah Rahman in the Mint
[Thanks to Vinod Pavarala for this linkhttp://www.livemint.com/2012/05/28112107/Views--Community-radio-Givin.htm ] *Community radio: Giving a voice to the voicelesshttp://www.livemint.com/2012/05/28112107/Views--Community-radio-Givin.htm * *Activists have been demanding a third alternative to fulfill the needs of the marginalized and rural communities that are not served by either public or commercial radio* Farah Rahman | livemint.com | 28 May 2012 The recent man-handling, match fixing and molestation charges that dominate what was once referred to as a gentleman’s sport attracted all the television news channels attention - nonstop. Important issues were sidelined as is often the case when masala takes over matter. I was frustrated that nothing of substance was on any of the news channels for extended periods of time. Yet, I am still privileged as my language of choice for obtaining information and news that is relevant to my interests is English. I have blazing fast internet and a gazillion options worldwide to graze the news. And in my personal capacity, if I want to make the news, I can publish my thoughts via a blog, comment on others blogs and new stories. I can tweet my thoughts and retweet what I agree or disagree with comments, and on and on. However, there are many in India whose issues, voices and languages are consistently ignored. The silence of these oppressed masses has given birth to many modern day Maoists. Occasional ado is made of India’s many languages mainly when a point needs to be made about our great, rich and diverse culture and much ado is made globally when a language is finally dead or about to expire. Little though is being done to enable the voices of millions of Indian tribals and their numerous living languages to be heard. Language and geography have made for misery for these millions. Out of sight and out of mind, these poor people have been ignored, sidelined and oppressed for too long. One can’t blame them for the methods they are utilizing to try to get what they need to survive let alone to live large and thrive in a country that is equally theirs. Enter Shubranshu Choudhary a journalist who grew up in Chhattisgarh. At a recent seminar, he talked about how he had left his home state at a time when it was a very quiet place and in the twenty years that he was away reporting many details from many places around the world, his home state had become “India’s biggest internal security threat.” To figure out what went wrong and how his classmates from the tribal school in northern Chhattisgarh that he attended had become “terrorists,” he quit his job and returned home. Communication breakdown. Choudhary found that this was the problem. His former classmates informed him that they needed to communicate with each other and the rest of the world through a medium that they owned. He was told that the mass media is owned by rich and powerful entities and does not allow them the option of communication nor does it speak their language let alone address their issues. Internet is not an option due to electricity, connectivity and language issues and the local issues of tribals don’t make for “good” television. Furthermore, voice is their preferred medium not print. A vast majority of Indians are simply more comfortable with talking and listening. An extension of sitting under the banyan tree and shooting the breeze. Choudhary knew he had to fix this problem. Community radio could have been the obvious solution here especially as it relates and caters to geography and also solves the language and literacy problems. However due to various problems surrounding community radio including a ban on spectrum in “disturbed areas”, an innovative solution was devised using the “most democratic machine in India” – the mobile phone as the medium. Cgnetswara is the experiment where messages are called in via mobile phones and recorded. Anyone can give a missed call to 91-80-4113 7280. The call is returned immediately and you have the option to record or listen to messages. It is simple and effective. To highlight the contrast between the two worlds – the mainstream and the marginalized, I checked to see what messages were called in during the over reported kidnapping of Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon. While the mainstream media did a “Peepli Live” on Menon’s kidnapping during a Gram Suraj Abhiyan meeting, the content of the people, for the people and by the people generated in Chhattisgarh was that of how the Gram Suraj Abhiyan project was a waste of time. The Gram Suraj Abhiyan sounds good in theory. Officials go to the villages and hear problems and inform citizens about government programs. However, the reality is that problems raised at these meetings are not solved. One message that was called in asked the Chief Minister to keep atleast 25% of his promises. The mainstream media completely ignored an opportunity that was offered up on a golden platter to explore the underlying
[cr-india] A letter to Kapil Sibal - Osama Manzar in the Mint
*A letter to Kapil Sibalhttp://www.livemint.com/articles/2012/05/20211459/A-letter-to-Kapil-Sibal.html * Osama Manzar | livemint.com | 20 May 2012 Dear minister, You are in a unique position which, in some way or the other, is responsible for connecting almost the entire country through the information highway. You are working on how all the 245,500 panchayats could be connected through broadband in the next few years; being the minister for human resources development, you also have the responsibility of seeing how you could introduce information and communications technology (ICT) in 1.4 million schools, more than 90% of which have no inkling about ICT. The success of the two initiatives could bring about a revolution and take governance in the country to a new level. You are also aware how information is being democratized, thanks to social media networks and orally enabling technology tools—mobile phones and community radio—that are connecting the country. The information and broadcasting (IB) ministry has allowed FM radio licences to be given to non-governmental organizations and non-profit institutions to broadcast to local communities within a radius of 5-15 kilometres. There are around 126 operational community radio stations and more than 500 at various stages of being granted a broadcast licence. There is a possibility of about 4,000 community radio stations broadcasting in our country if the coverage and geographical areas are calculated. The ministry of IB has been working hard to put in place as many such radio networks as possible so that the local communities can find a voice, and communicate in their own dialect in their own area. According to one calculation, each community radio covers about 20-40 villages and about 5,000 people. That means we are giving access to the media to thousands of villages whose residents perhaps never had a chance to read a newspaper or listen to the radio or watch television. This is a great inclusive programme devised by the government. Sir, the licensing process of a community radio network goes through five ministries, including the two that are in your charge. One of the most essential parts of running a community radio is that it uses spectrum in the form of FM and for that each licencee was supposed to pay Rs. 19,700 until recently; the fee has been increased to Rs. 90,000. I would like to bring to your notice that, according to a Supreme Court of India ruling in February 1995, “airwaves constitute public property and must be utilized for advancing public good.” That implies that if the use of the airwaves is not commercial, no licence fee should be charged. Community radio stations are run by not-for-profit organizations by law and are not meant for commercial use. In fact, more than 50% of the programmes aired on them are supposed to be made with the involvement of communities. Recently, in order to make community radio sustainable, the government also allowed 5 minutes of advertising per hour. Many government departments are now looking at community radio as a viable medium to reach out to the citizens with information about the programmes and schemes they are pursuing. If we look at the history of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, it has launched several inclusive and participatory programmes aimed at enhancing citizens’ rights and improving their life. They include the Right to Information Act, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right to Education Act. Common service centres have been started in each panchayat, and community radio allowed. Given that background, it is only natural to expect that the government machinery would work together to ensure an integrated approach in framing and enforcing administrative orders. Not only is charging not-for-profit organizations a spectrum fee for community radio (let alone increasing it from Rs. 19,700 to Rs. 90,000) a violation of the Supreme Court’s 1995 order, it’s also at variance with the policy approach of the UPA government. This shows a lack of coordination between various government ministries and departments. Sir, community radio is on the threshold of changing the country’s information landscape. On behalf of the myriad local communities that are waiting to be empowered through community radio, I request you to consider foregoing the spectrum fee altogether and be an agent of change in the movement we call an information revolution. Hoping for a favourable decision from you. *Osama Manzar is founder-director of Digital Empowerment Foundation and curator of the mBillionth Awards. He is also a member of a working group on Internet governance established by the ministry of communications and information technology. Tweet him @osamamanzar.* * * http://www.livemint.com/articles/2012/05/20211459/A-letter-to-Kapil-Sibal.html Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
Re: [cr-india] {CRF India} Re: CR India Map
As Arti has pointed out, Radio Mewat wasn't missed out -- it was wrongly placed in Delhi. Both the JIMS stations are on the map, as also DU and Jamia. (Alfaz-e-Mewat is missing, I think). The problem here is that Maraa has gone by the address of the NGO, not by the location of the CR station. Radio Mewat (licensed to SMART) is technically registered in Delhi as are Kumaon Vani (licensed to DA, Delhi) and Kisan Vani (licensed to ISAP, Delhi). Hence these errors which, by the way, are pretty common. Sajan On 16 May 2012 12:03, Archana Kapoor archana.sm...@gmail.com wrote: Funny! There is KRIMS/HINT/manav rachna/namsaste noida. gurgaon ki awaz, kumaon vani and kisan vani MP. Even with a magnifying glass I could not find Radio Mewat Where are the JIMS ones...wait till Ms Bhatnagar sees this map:) And where is DU? and Jamia? Who so ever has done is needs to look at the Compendium-CEMCA Map again and make corrections. Kindly do not circulate the same in forums till it is revised . Best archana On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 11:26 AM, Arti Jaiman a...@trfindia.org wrote: Archana, It's there but seems to have been put in Delhi instead! Why don't you send across you GPS coordinates to them. Regards Arti Arti Jaiman Station Director : Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station 107.8 MHz FM email: a...@trfindia.org website: www.trfindia.org Gurgaon Ki Awaaz is the first and only civil-society-led community radio station in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Since 2009, we have been broadcasting 22X7, in Hindi and Haryanvi, with a team of community reporters who generate community content with community participation. --- On *Wed, 16/5/12, Archana Kapoor archana.sm...@gmail.com* wrote: From: Archana Kapoor archana.sm...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [cr-india] CR India Map To: Kartikeya Bajpai bajpai.kartik...@gmail.com Cc: crf-in...@googlegroups.com, CR India cr-india@sarai.net Date: Wednesday, 16 May, 2012, 11:10 AM Hi Kartikeya, I cant see Radio Mewat in Haryana! Can you please include the same. It has been operational since September 2010. Strange that is was missed out:) best archana On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 5:47 PM, Kartikeya Bajpai bajpai.kartik...@gmail.comhttp://mc/compose?to=bajpai.kartik...@gmail.com wrote: Hi all, We have put up a interactive maphttp://maraa.in/media/india-community-radio-stations-map/of Community Radio stations in India. The station list and attributes are based on the CR Compendium (by CEMCA and MIB). The map can be found at http://maraa.in/media/india-community-radio-stations-map/ Please send across any comments, clarifications, or corrections that you may have to i...@maraa.in http://mc/compose?to=i...@maraa.in Best, Kartikeya Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in -- Founder, SMART NGO Director, Radio Mewat Director, Hardnews Magazine 145, Gautam Nagar New Delhi- 110049 Ph: 011 26517545, 41642241 Telefax: 011 26528263 Mob: +91 9811166297 website: www.smartngo.org www.hardnewsmedia.com -Inline Attachment Follows- Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in -- Founder, SMART NGO Director, Radio Mewat Director, Hardnews Magazine 145, Gautam Nagar New Delhi- 110049 Ph: 011 26517545, 41642241 Telefax: 011 26528263 Mob: +91 9811166297 website: www.smartngo.org www.hardnewsmedia.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups CRF India group. To post to this group, send email to crf-in...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to crf-india+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/crf-india?hl=en. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] DoT asked to withdraw hike in spectrum fee for community radio
[Thanks to Mitu Varma for this link] DoT asked to withdraw hike in spectrum fee for community radiohttp://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/dot-asked-to-withdraw-hike-in-spectrum-fee-for-community-radio/7623/ Press Trust of India / New Delhi May 12, 2012 The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has asked the Department of Telecommunications to roll back its decision of a five-fold hike in spectrum fee for community radio stations. IB Secretary Uday Kumar Varma has written a letter to the Secretary (DoT) R Chandrashekhar, pointing out that Community Radio stations did not run for profits, so the decision to raise the spectrum fee should be reconsidered, official sources said today. The DoT had earlier decided to increase the annual spectrum fee for community radio stations from Rs 19,000 to Rs 91,000. In his letter, Varma pointed out that the IB Ministry had not been consulted by the DoT before this fee hike was decided. The five-fold increase in spectrum fee would have a crippling effect on the growth of community radio stations in the country as many organisations would find it impossible to meet this huge hike in charges, Varma said in his letter. Community Radio is one of the focus areas of the I and B ministry which has also considered providing financial and other support to groups who can operate such Radio stations. The IB Ministry, which has even instituted awards to promote community radio, feels that the increase in spectrum fee would send a negative signal to groups interested in setting up such stations. Community radio groups have also been protesting the DoT decision to hike fee. This fee hike puts an unnecessary burden on Community Radio Stations which are struggling to make ends meet. TRAI had in 2004 suggested that there should be no spectrum fee for community radio, which should be the case, N Ramkrishnan, General Secretary of the Community Radio Forum of India said. http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/dot-asked-to-withdraw-hike-in-spectrum-fee-for-community-radio/7623/ Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] AMARC URGES SPECTRUM FEE ROLL BACK IN INDIA
AMARC URGES SPECTRUM FEE ROLL BACK IN INDIA The Asia Pacific Board of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) is deeply concerned at the recent spectrum fee hike imposed by the Government of India. One of the milestones of the Community Radio Guidelines of 2006 was the creation of a distinct three tiered radio policy – public, private and community - based on the promise of inclusiveness and equity. As a result of these guidelines, India became the first country in South Asia to have a distinct policy for community radio which took sides with the excluded and marginalized. By raising the spectrum fee from Rs 19,700/- per annum to Rs 91,000/- per annum, the policy would appear to defeat the purpose of providing a voice to the voiceless and blurring these distinctions. As a global network committed to media democratization and strengthening the voices of the excluded through community radio, AMARC supports the Community Radio Forum of India’s (CRF) stand that the hike will “choke the rights of communities to voice.” Further, it goes against the spirit of the citizens’ fundamental right to speech and expression as enshrined in Article 19 Clause 1 Sub Clause A of the Indian Constitution. As a result of the hike, “genuine and grassroots communities will be excluded….and community radio will be a mockery of the stated policy objectives of the government of India.” A recent rapid assessment survey conducted by the AMARC International Secretariat indicates that the movement towards reducing spectrum fees is gaining ground across the world. Countries like Australia, Canada, Denmark, South Africa, and Uruguay do not levy a spectrum fee, while in countries like Bangladesh, Colombia, and Nicaragua the amount ranges from USD 150 to USD 480 to USD 50-100(raise the fee over 1000 watts) respectively. AMARC urges the Government of India to urgently enable an inclusive and truly participative community climate in India by taking steps that will revoke the spectrum fee hike as well as end other restrictions like the ban on news. May 10th, 2012. Ashish Sen, President Suman Basnet Regional Coordinator AMARC Asia Pacific Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community radios fall silent to protest licence fee hike
*Community radios fell silent to protest licence fee hikehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3409508.ece * AARTI DHAR, The Hindu, 12 May 2012 *36 operators boycott policy consultation organised by IB Ministry* Several civil society-run community radio stations across the country fell silent for several hours on Wednesday to protest the increase in licence fee. On March 22, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology increased the annual fee from Rs.19,700 to Rs. 91,000. While the order came into effect in April, the operators came to know about it only when they received payment invoices. “It is shocking that community radio stations, which are of, for and by communities, often in remote, rural and hilly areas, operating in marginalising and disadvantageous conditions, will now be required to pay as much as Rs. 91,000 a year as royalty/licence charges for operating a small FM station broadcasting in a range of 5-10 km with a 50-watt transmitter,” said Arti Jaiman, treasurer of Community Radio Forum, an organisation registered under the Indian Societies Act. The government allowed community radios in 2006. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issues licences, along with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which allocates the spectrum. There are 136 community radio stations; 36 of them are run by civil society organisations and the rest by Krishi Vigyan Kendras and educational institutions. ‘A MOCKERY' “This move is clearly a mockery of the government stance… that there are no licence fees for community radio,” Ms. Jaiman said, pressing for the withdrawal of the increase. Ram Bhat, vice-president of the Forum, charged the Centre with deploying various strategies, through its Ministries, to suppress the freedom of media. Such a method was to arbitrarily and unreasonably raise the barriers to entry, causing the smaller players to drop out. The fee rise would exclude the genuine and grass roots communities from the concept, allowing instead rich NGOs, universities and private educational institutions to capture the licences. The Forum, a member of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's Screening Committee for Community Radio, decided to boycott a policy consultation organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for Wednesday and Thursday. All 36 functional community radio stations, which are members of the Forum, observed “Day of Silence” on Wednesday, announcing the fee hike, playing a protest song, and then switching off the transmitters. “Further measures are being planned for a long and sustained campaign,” Ms. Jaiman said. “Community broadcasters are determined not to give up this campaign until this hike is rolled back.” http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3409508.ece Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community radio protests against spectrum fee hike
*Community radio protests against spectrum fee hikehttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Community-radio-protests-against-spectrum-fee-hike/articleshow/13101664.cms * Himanshi Dhawan, TNN | May 12, 2012 NEW DELHI: A five-fold increase in spectrum fee for community radio stations has the fledgling community up in arms, pointing out that the huge hike will have a crippling impact on the not-for-profit run stations. Prompted by the outcry, the information and broadcasting (IB) ministry has written a letter of protest to the ministry of telecommunications and IT. By a recent order, the telecom ministry has increased annual royalty charges from Rs 19,000 to Rs 91,000. Expressing his concern over this unilateral decision, IB secretary Uday Kumar Varma said that ministry's views were not sought before the decision was taken. This five-fold increase in spectrum fee would have a crippling impact on the growth of community radio stations in India as many organizations would find it impossible to meet this huge increase in royalty charges, said the letter written to telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar. So far, the ministry has given 370 permissions to various NGOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and recognized educational institutions. Now, around 132 stations are operational. The ministry has asked for a roll-back of the fee. However the high spectrum could spell death knell for the fledgling industry that continues to struggle for steady finances. A delegation of the Community Radio Association had met telecom IT minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday. In a statement, the Association said the spectrum fee hike would badly affect the new applications as well as the present licence holders of the small FM community radio stations run by communities and broadcasting within a radius of 5-15 kms with a 50 watt transmitter. Most of the community radio stations of the country are currently facing a severe problem of sustenance and finding it difficult to even meet their recurring expenditure. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Community-radio-protests-against-spectrum-fee-hike/articleshow/13101664.cms Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] 'Jaago Mumbai may lose voice over charge hike' - DNA Special
*Jaago Mumbai may lose voice over charge hikehttp://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_dna-special-jaago-mumbai-may-lose-voice-over-charge-hike_1686373 * May 9, 2012, Saikat Datta | DNA A sudden increase in spectrum charges for local community radios is now threatening to wipe them out. In late March this year, the ministry of information and broadcasting suddenly hiked the spectrum usage charge from Rs19,700 per annum to Rs91,000. The result: local community radio stations such as Jaago Mumbai, run by the Union Park Residents’ Association of Khar or Gurgaon Ki Awaaz in Delhi’s suburb is now staring at immediate closure. Unlike commercial radio stations that have the money and the programming muscle to survive, 150 community radio stations spread across the country started operations mainly to cater to marginalised communities or residents who need a platform to discuss local issues. “People like us are already struggling to survive,” Arti Jaiman, who runs the Gurgaon community radio, said. “What will happen to marginalised groups like the radio station run by Dalit women in Andhra Pradesh or Uttarakhand villagers who have slung an antenna on a pole to reach out to their local communities?” The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended in 2004 that community radio stations should not be charged for using spectrum. “But the ministry chose to ignore this and have instead hiked the fees without any explanation,” she told DNA. In Mumbai, Bharati Kakkar, who is part of the team that started Jaago Mumbai in Khar, is equally worried and understandably upset. “We incur huge costs in rentals,” Kakkar said. “If the central government charges us Rs91,000 yearly, then this will be the end for community radion stations.” In Mumbai, the Jago Mumbai radio station runs innovative programmes such as ‘Home Minister’ for housewives and ‘Chocolate ka Bungalow’ for children. “For two years we have been doing programmes relevant to the residents,” Kakkar said. In Gurgaon, Jaiman receives donations from malls to air programmes for the marginalised and the migrants and educate them on health, hygiene, and education. Unlike commercial radio stations that focus on entertainment, community radios are meant to empower and educate local people. In Andhra Pradesh, Dalit women shun all advertisements and instead collect Rs5 from every house to keep their stations alive. The university campuses of Mumbai and Pune have vibrant community radio stations. But all this will end because of the whopping hike in charges. “No one tells us why the charges were raised. It could be because of the Supreme Court ruling in the 2G case that all spectrum must be auctioned. But how can it be applied to local initiatives like community radio stations,” Sajan Venniyoor of the Community Radio Forum said. The forum, an advocacy group, has protested against the hike and members now plan to boycott a consultation meeting with information and broadcasting ministry officials on Wednesday. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Strengthening CR -- the World Radio Conference in Sri Lanka
[From MC Rasmin, Sri Lanka Community Radio Forum] The world radio conference under the theme of ‘strengthen the radio movements and empower communities in Sri Lanka’ has taken place in Colombo. A network of community broadcasters, working towards community broadcasting for social development in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF), brought together more than 30 broadcasters representing Uva community radio, Kothmale Community Radio, Saru Community radio, Sasura Community Radio, Telradio, Vayamba voice, Ruhunu voice, Kandurata FM, Vasantham FM, Sri Lanka broadcasting corporation, Nenasala telecenters and different universities for the first World Radio Day. The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, the national ICT apex body, partnered with SDJF in organising the conference. ICT Agency of Sri Lanka extended its fullest technical input in order to make this conference more successful. ICT Agency of Sri Lanka has continuously been supporting Sri Lanka development Journalist Forum (SDJF) for the cause of connecting community broadcasters. The conference was divided into three major sessions such as hearing the challenges from the ground, assessing the challenging policy environment for community radio broadcasting in particular and radio broadcasting in general and the future pathway for it. The fact that the policies which exist are not supporting the citizens to bring up the community voice was explored by the senior lecturer of the media department of the Kelaniya University, Vijayanada Rupasinga. The major issues such as lack of communication with the government, lack of civil society involvement, lack of lobbying among different policy players and lack of knowledge among community radio workers about the policy environment were identified as immediate hindrances in designing a better policy to promote and regulate community radio movements. Furthermore, the unfair situation of criticizing the role of government of Sri Lanka without any communication with it was also emphasized by Saman Rajapaksha, lecturer from the same university. He stressed the fact that there should be series of communication and dialogue with government stakeholder on this cause and which is not been happening currently. At the same time, there are other sessions which arrived at the following conclusion. 1. Any radio comes under government preview shouldn’t name as community radio. What Sri Lanka need at this juncture is radio fully won by people. 2. UVA community radio representative and the newly elected national coordinator of SDJF stressed that UVA is the only community radio 3. Sri Lankan government should be made clear that the need of community radio is not to challenge the government or the mainstream radio but to create a strong platform in order to cater the development need of the disadvantaged and to create a platform where civil society can voice the issues affecting them. There is a huge amount of people’s interests and information needs which are not catered by the commercially driven private and government mainstream radios. 4. It was also shown as a good sign that government has clearly supported SARU community radio which is a real community radio set up accordingly to the community radio principle and was not processed by relevant organization or the final proceeding in calling bid for the transmitter. Until a genuine community radio era is flourished, all the community based – regional radio stations have to absorb the features of community broadcasting in order to create a positive environment for the future community radio. 5. For the first time in the history of Sri Lankan community radio industry, a national forum was formed by Sri Lankan development journalist Forum (SDJF) to carry forward a collected mandate in triggering the communication with government and all the other stakeholders. 6. The deputy country director of USAID Sri Lanka, Christopher Wyrod explained the fact that domination of the commercially driven radio and other media is not a challenge for a real community radio and radio movements. 7. Sri Lanka development Forum (SDJF) was requested by the participants, o write to ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, CEMCA and AMARC seeking the technical inputs in order to host an international conference on future community radio in Sri Lanka and work towards lobbying the need of news radio policy. The head of SDJF M C Rasmin, accepted the suggestion of the participant. 8. A unique fact was despite the nationwide private bus strike, all around the country, participants have managed to come by their own means. Some participants have walked longer ways due to the heavy traffic jam and lack of transport facilities which prove the thirsty amongst the community broadcasters to re-strengthen the radio movement in Sri Lanka. The country director for Search for Common Ground, Nawaz Mohammed also attended
[cr-india] Sri Lankan community media portal
[From MC Rasmin, head of Sri Lankan Community Radio Forum] Dear friends in abroad, ** ** As you know that SL is still struggling in finding an attractive and alternative model to trigger the active community radio movement in SL. I think it’s more than enough that most of us glorify the Sri Lankan *myth of Community radio*. ** ** In the first World Radio Day conference, assisted by the ICT agency of Sri Lanka, our newly elected members of Sri Lankan CR forum agreed to create an online community radio model – a national one, in which most of the core principles of CR could be applied and a wider platform can be created for the betterment of the voiceless community. ** ** In this case, we are planning for an online community radio – at a national level, this can only be a model for us to trigger the dialogue on CR and produce some quality media outputs that can cater the disadvantaged. I am as head of the forum, seeking your consultation, advice, suggestions, knowledge inputs and guidance on following. ** ** We needs to learn a successful experience in connecting mobile phone directly to the online radio: - Can it be a bilingual or trilingual media platform? I prefer to make it in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. - Any simple or successful experience in reaching the civil society via mobile phones? We too have some successful initiatives funded by ICTA. - Does anyone have a best way of using online platform for dialogue with civil society? It can be forum, blog, social media or anything. - Any experience in recording automatically the phone calls, Skype calls etc so that civil society can participate in programme making? We have initiative in SL called *techkatha*. I am keen on more cases. - I am planning to have at least 30 regional journalists/*Nenasala*operators (Rural access centre) who can communicate and contribute us in sharing public concerns with us. - Since this is going to be a muti-lingual platform, any user-friendly way of engaging podcasting in a manner that we can categorise podcasting according to the language? - Any experience in transmitting the webcasting through a FM radio channel? - What could be the best server? - What could be the best streamer? - What could be the software’s that could be used for this purpose? - If anything you think that I could consider..? ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** I hope we can get some expertise from ICTA, which is an apex body of SL government to implement ITC initiatives. But it’s momentary for us to approach them with some homework.** I would greatly appreciate in reviewing a mail, link, case, contact and call from you. ** ** Regards, Rasmin ** ** M C Rasmin Director Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) 8/5, Liyanage Mawatha, nawala, Ragagiriya Mobile – +94 773 66 75 30, Office - +941 12 87 70 07 Web – www.ldjf.org , Mail - ras...@ldjf.org Skype – mcrasmin ** Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] new Governing Board of the Community Radio Forum of India
Elections were held to the Governing Board of the Community Radio Forum of India on 21 February 2012, at the annual general body meet held in New Delhi. The following CRF members were elected to the Board. 1) Mr. Stalin K 2) Mr. Ram Nath Bhat 3) Mr. N Ramakrishnan 4) Ms. Arti Jaiman 5) Mr. Debarun Dutta 6) Mr. Vasuki Belavadi 7) Ms. Anujaa Shukla 8) Mr. Hemant Babu The office bearers of CRF Executive Committee are: 1) Mr. Stalin K- President 2) Mr. Ram Nath Bhat- Vice President 3) Mr. N Ramakrishnan- General Secretary 4) Ms. Arti Jaiman- Treasurer The elected board will co-opt two women community broadcasters into the executive council from the general body. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
Re: [cr-india] ...Meanwhile, discussions on spectrum in another part of the world
Writing in the Times of India (12 Feb), Gurcharan Das -- former CEO of Procter Gamble India, Harvard Business School alumnus and not exactly a closet communist -- says, Think of the spectrum like the village commonshttp://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/men-and-ideas/entry/think-of-the-spectrum-like-the-village-commons . Das writes, Today many experts think of spectrum as a common grazing ground around a village, which is open to everyone to use freely. They claim that new spectrum-sharing technologies allow a virtually unlimited number of persons to use it without causing each other interference - this eliminates the need for either property rights or government control. This is why the United States has gone ahead and designated a 50 MHz block of spectrum in the 3650 MHz band as a commons. As Arun Mehta and Vickram Crishna have written tirelessly for as long as I can remember, technology has advanced sufficiently for us to adopt an 'open spectrum' regime. But unfortunately, as Das says, the Supreme Court judgment [in the 2G case] has come out so heavily prescriptive in favour of auctions that future governments in India will be shy to adopt a better alternative. The next casualty of the government's failure to do the right thing with spectrum will be the FM Phase III auction, when 839 more FM channels go under the hammer. Hundreds of these frequencies -- in 'unviable markets' -- will go a-begging, while the bigger cities will wind up with a clutch of FM stations all playing *Kolaveri Di*, or in sporadic bursts of creativity and wild courage, *Sheila ki Jawani.* * * Sajan On 10 February 2012 10:50, N.Ramakrishnan n...@ideosyncmedia.org wrote: The new bill that impact the US FCC's control over spectrum auctioning is **so controversial that former FCC chairman, Reed Hundt, recently called this proposal the single worst telecom bill he'd ever seen, and, a repudiation of the smartest auction theorists in the world.** Lessons to be learnt? Ramakrishnan http://www.engadget.com/2012/**02/08/att-and-verizon-lobby-** for-less-fcc-spectrum-control/http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/08/att-and-verizon-lobby-for-less-fcc-spectrum-control/ -- N.Ramakrishnan Director of Projects Ideosync Media Combine 177, Ashoka Enclave III Sector 35, Faridabad - 121 003 Haryana - India Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community Radio: eliminating voice poverty
*Community Radio: eliminating voice poverty* The Hoot, Feb 09, 2012 Free speech and freedom of expression are the raison d’être of CR anywhere in the world and they are going well beyond their mandates to do so in India, but it is imperative they are given a boost, says DR. KANCHAN K. MALIK. Prachi and Dalchand Kushwaha of Orchha (MP), Bharati and Ahmed of Kutch (Gujarat), General Narsamma and Algole Narsamma of Pastapur (AP), Shilwanti Biranchi of Bhalmanda (Jharkhand), Sudha Rawat, Manvendra Negi and Rajendra Negi of Bhanaj (Uttarakhand), Shantha of Budhikote (Karnataka), Naguveer Prakash of Nagapattinam (TN), Helina Sina and Narsingh of Konark and Koraput respectively (Orissa) have one thing in common. They are all, much-admired community radio (CR) reporters and presenters, who produce amazing programmes, which go on air at the CR stations set up in their region following the announcement of the updated, inclusive policy on Community Radio (CR) by the Government of India (GOI) on 16th November 2006. All of these CR reporters have a number of other things in common too, which have, in no way, restrained them from carrying out their tasks adroitly. They belong to rural areas or the suburbs; none of them have gone to journalism schools; many have scarcely completed their secondary education; they had negligible exposure to media production before getting involved with radio; and they are members of a disadvantaged cluster (be it on basis of caste, class or gender) even within their own community. The driving force behind their enthusiasm is an abiding faith that their “own” radio will give them and their community a “voice” that matters most in the struggle for a better life. These superbly motivated CR reporters also aspire to deploy what Jean Burgess calls their “vernacular creativity” to mobilize and empower the communities they belong to. They already have several success stories of local level civic engagement to their credit. The CR policy has been in operation in India for over five years now. The evidence available so far demonstrates that the small number of radio stations operational in the country that belong to non-government and grassroots-based developmental organizations not only endeavour to be effective tools of community development, but also increasingly trying to alleviate what some academic scholars such as Jo Tacchi have termed as “voice poverty.” Defined simply, voice poverty is the denial of access to opportunities, agency and means of self-expression and political participation (advocacy) for groups who have negligible access to the mass media. As a consequence of the globalization and commercialization of the media and communication sector (which ranges from telecommunication networks and the Internet, through to radio, television and film), gigantic media corporations have gained an unyielding foothold in the cultural and information market place of every region of the world. This is true for India too, where we observe an oligopolistic control over the terms of public debate and discourse by a few multi-sector conglomerates and power-wielding personalities. There is a deliberate push towards cultural homogenisation and consumerist lifestyles and hardly any avenues for innovative ideas and opinions in the ‘mainstream’ media. More than ever, it indicates an unhealthy national mediascape where freedom of speech and expression by way of access to media is confined to elites. Ordinary citizens are treated as passive consumers of media content which is unabashedly driven by profit-oriented agenda. Free speech and freedom of expression are the raison d’être of CR anywhere in the world. CR locates its quintessence in societal and media democratization with a view to empower the marginalised sections of society and ensure diversity and plurality of representation. It seeks to employ radio to give a voice to the unheard and the disenfranchised. According to the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), the historical philosophy of CR is to use this medium as the “voice of the voiceless, the mouthpiece of oppressed people and generally as a tool for development.” The essence of CR lies in the community owning and controlling its own means of communication. The La Plata Declaration of Community Radio Broadcasters adopted by AMARC in 2010 endorses Freedom of Expression as the fundamental right that ensures other freedoms established in international Human Rights instruments. In India too, if we go around the country trying to discover what the limited numbers of operational CR stations are endeavouring to accomplish, we understand that this versatile medium is going much beyond its predictable mandates of social change and disaster management. CR is functioning as a cultural broadcast mechanism that adapts perfectly to reflect the interests and needs of the community it serves, and offers people of the marginalized sectors a platform to express themselves
[cr-india] World Radio Day Observation, February 13
[From Prof. Vinod Pavarala, President, Communty Radio Forum UNESCO Chair on Community Media] Dear all: 13 February is a date proclaimed by UNESCO to celebrate radio broadcasting, improve international cooperation among radio broadcasters and encourage decision-makers to create and provide access to information through radio, including community radios. It’s an occasion to draw attention to the unique value of radio, which remains the medium to reach the widest audiences. UNESCO encourages all countries to celebrate this Day by undertaking activities with diverse partners, such as national, regional and international broadcasting associations and organizations, non-governmental organizations, media organizations, outlets as well as the public at large. Please see on the link given below 15 ideas from UNESCO on how to celebrate the day. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/world-radio-day/ These ideas include: broadcasting a one-minute message by the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bukova; broadcasting a radio-centred programme or public-service message; organizing debates/discussions with key stakeholders; phone-in radio shows with audiences; interviews with radio personalities; etc. Do mark the occasion with something special and share the information with others in the Community Radio Forum (CRF) and the wider CR community in the country. Thank you -- Prof. Vinod Pavarala President, Communty Radio Forum UNESCO Chair on Community Media University of Hyderabad Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community Radio Station by C-NES at Dibrugarh, Assam
*Community Radio Station by C-NES at Dibrugarh* *8 Dec, The Assam Tribune * GUWAHATI, Dec 8 – A new radio station – Brahmaputra Community Radio Station (BCRS), on the banks of the Brahmaputra - is being set up by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) in collaboration with UNICEF, Assam at Maijan ghat, Dibrugarh. It is part of an effort to democratise mass media, with reporters and writers from communities of the area. Community radio across the world is popularly defined as a “radio for the people, of the people and by the people”. A BCRS stakeholders’ meeting was organised on November 30 at the BSRS office, Dibrugarh. The meeting which was originally planned to mark inauguration of BCRS and its introduction to scholars, intelligentsia, professionals, business sector, media and government circles of Dibrugarh was quickly converted into a moving memorial meeting and stakeholders discussion, to remember the brilliant contributions of cultural genius and icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika and writer-thinker Jyanpith awardee Dr Indira Goswami, popularly known as Mamoni Raisom, who had expired only the previous day, attended by Unicef Chief Field Office, Assam, Jeroo Master, eminent writer- columnist Sanjoy Hazarika, the Managing Trustee of C-NES, academics, members from the local community and BCRS management committee members. By the banks of the river, the hall of the CRS at Maijan Ghat reverberated to the beat of Dr Bhupen Hazarika's immortal ‘Sagor Songomot’ sung by a local talented group after Meena Teli, President Zila Parishad ,Sanjoy Hazarika, Jeroo Master, prominent local entrepreneur Ratan Saikia lighted lamps and all stood in silent prayer to honour the great figures of Assam. The radio station will benefit the communities of the river islands as well as the tea tribe communities inhabiting the river banks and will function as extended arms of dissemination of national flagship programmes such as NRHM, Sarba Shiksha Abhiyan and Total Sanitation campaign. The local communities would be involved in reporting on issues like education, health, culture, sports and entertainment and other issues ofinterest to them, reflecting the lives of those it reaches. The station will reach out to over 2 lakh people within a 15-20 km radius and will be broadcasting in five languages- Assamese, Bhojpuri, Bodo, Mising and Shadri (tea tribe dialect). There are 15 young radioreporters recruited from these five communities and a network of 150 volunteers spread across islands, tea gardens and urban areas. “This is the first such radio station where programmes will be broadcast in five languages. The reporters have been shaping extremely well- an amazingly talented group, they are good singers, have sharp responses and are energetic and positive,” said BCRS programme coordinator, Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan The station will be launched as full broadcast service sometime in latter half of 2012. Right now they are doing ‘narrow casting’, gathering programme feedback from the community listeners. C-NES, which was established in 2000, works on a range of issues at both field and policy levels relating to health education and other areas of governance. These include participative planning and rights, water resources, environment, rural livelihoods, peace building and building better understanding among communities. The organization designs and develops innovative ideas for implementation to reach the poor and marginalised groups specifically in areas of health, education, energy and environment, conducts workshops and training programmes, reviews government policies and projects. C-NES believes that both at grassroot and policy making levels, individuals and communities can make a difference if they develop a stake in their own governance and the communityradio station is expected to be a significant milestone in that direction, an e-mail received here stated. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] TRAI issues consultation paper for FM Radio
* TRAI's consultation paperhttp://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/trai/upload/ConsultationPapers/265/CP_08-12-2011.pdfis titled, with admirable brevity, Issues related to prescribing Minimum Channel Spacing, within a License Service Area, in FM Radio Sector in India. As Vickram has pointed out, cities like New York and Paris have 60-70 FM radio stations as against the dozen or so frequencies grudgingly permitted for use in Indian cities. This is because of a channel separation of 800 Khz that the Telecom Ministry insists on. Under pressure from stakeholders (read: commercial FM networks), the Telecom ministry is rethinking their strategy and asking whether a channel separation of 400 Khz could work just as well, which would presumably double the number of channels one could pack into the FM band. * Now, how will this affect community radio? Would a larger number of FM frequencies in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore give us a larger share of the pie? Or would it crowd low-power CR channels off the dial? Would a 20KW commercial FM channel broadcasting on, say, 91.1 MHz have any effect on a 50W CR station at 90.8 MHz, given that commercial FM stations have a habit of leaking into adjacent channels and our radio receivers are not the best in the world. (Those, incidentally, are the frequencies assigned to Radio City and IGNOU CR respectively in Delhi). We should respond to TRAI's consultation paper. Our 'valuable comments' are requested by 26 Dec, and counter-comments by 2 Jan. Sajan * Trai issues consultation paper for FM Radio *09 Dec 11, Radioandmusic.com http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/trai-issues-consultation-paper-fm-radio NEW DELHI: With A and A+ cities demanding more FM channel even after the announcement of the Phase III guidelines, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has sought the opinion of stakeholders whether it would be acceptable if the minimum channel spacing within a license service area can reduced from the current level of 800 KHz. It has said that if it can be reduced, then stakeholders should suggest what the minimum level should be, justifying their answers with reasoning. Issues such as the viability and desirability of having more number of channels in the interest of the stakeholders, selectivity of FM receivers available with the consumers (such as mobile handsets, car radios, and other receivers), transmission from a single or multiple transmission setups may please be factored in should also be considered. In a consultation paper on “Issues related to prescribing minimum Channel spacing, within a license service area, in FM Radio sector in India”, Trai has asked stakeholders to consider the implications of reducing/not-reducing the minimum channel spacing within a license service area. Furthermore, should the reduction of minimum channel spacing be confined to A+ and A category cities or should it be reduced across the country, and how should funding for the modification of transmitting setups be funded. Stakeholders have been asked to send in their written comments by 26 December and counter-comments by 2 January 2012. The Paper says that a second solution suggested by the operators requires a separate common transmission infrastructure (CTI) which includes transmitting tower, combiners, feeder cable, transmitting antenna etc. Effectively there would be two CTIs, one existing and another new one. The combiner designed for 800 KHz spacing could be used as the channel separation within a CTI would remain 800 KHz. However, suitably choosing the new channel frequencies (having channel separation of 800 KHz) in between the existing channel frequencies radiated from the existing CTI (also having channel separation of 800 KHz), would effectively result in channels spaced at 400 KHz for the license area for which these two CTIs are meant. Trai has pointed out that after the policy for Phase III was declared for 839 new private FM channels in 294 cities in July, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had asked the regulator to study the issue of reducing channel spacing in view of the demand from operators in A+ and A cities which have already been covered in the first two phases. The consultation paper analyses the issue of minimum channel spacing among the FM channels in light of the factors such as selectivity of the FM radio receivers, capability of combiners to effectively combine closely spaced channels, multiplicity of transmitting sites within the service area, mode of funding in case of up-gradation/creation of transmission setups is required. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] UNESCO picks 13 February as World Radio Day
UNESCO this week approved a proposalhttp://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105801from Spain to proclaim an annual *World Radio Day. *After consulting a number of stake-holders, they chose *13 February *as World Radio Day. The date commemorates the establishment of U.N. Radio http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/ in 1946. Frankly, this is not a particularly inspired choice. The three 'official' options were: July 27 - Marconi's first public wireless transmission of morse code (1896) October 6 - Birthday of Roger Fessenden, radio pioneer (1866) October 30 - The day Orson Welles broadcast his famous *'War of the Worlds' *radio play in the US (1938) Among the alternative dates suggested was 30 November, the date of birth of Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858), physicist, biologist and pioneer of radio broadcasting. This date was suggested by 13 respondents, the largest number, compared to the single respondent who mentioned 13 February. You can read the World Radio Day Feasibility Study herehttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/news/wrd_study.pdf . One can only be thankful that they didn't pick 24 March (anniversary of the murder of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador) or 15 April (sinking of the *Titanic *which, come to think of it, would do nicely as Public Service Broadcasting Day). Sajan UNESCO Turns On the Radio http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105801 By A.D.McKenzie PARIS, Nov 11 , 2011 (IPS) - The demise of radio has been predicted for many years, but the medium is adapting, transforming and proving to be a cost-effective tool in development, experts say. Radio is cheap, portable and has enormous potential for local and national growth, says Mirta Lourenço, chief of the media development section of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The Paris-based agency this week approved a proposal from Spain to proclaim an annual World Radio Day set for Feb. 13 which will be observed in a variety of ways by UNESCO’s 195 member states. The aim is to promote community radio and also to celebrate the service radio provides, Lourenço told IPS. It was felt that radio had not been adequately recognised for its many services to humankind. During the organisation’s two-week General Conference, which ended Thursday, member states agreed on goals that that included raising awareness about the continued relevance of radio especially for marginalised groups, and encouraging the creation of new channels by indigenous and community organisations. UNESCO says that about one billion people (or one in seven of the world’s population) still do not have access to radio. We need to expand access because in a way radio is irreplaceable. Once you buy your radio set, you have it for life and the information you receive can make a big difference especially in rural communities, Lourenço said. World Radio Day would also be used to highlight the need to empower civil society on the right to communicate, UNESCO says. It should help as well to enhance networking among broadcasters and to promote human and citizens’ rights. Radio has been used negatively for propaganda during both world wars, and also to incite violence, as in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. But UNESCO points out that it also has a specific role in emergency communication, disaster relief and other areas. The agency has drawn up an ambitious programme, supported by Sweden, to strengthen radio in rural areas in Africa so that broadcasters can produce quality programmes about local concerns including agriculture and healthcare. Stations run by rural women would be part of the project as well as education on how to use new communication technologies such as texting to reach audiences who could then text back questions or comments. From what I’ve seen in many developing countries, radio is generally the cheapest form of media for people who may not be able to buy a newspaper every day or afford television, says Jamion Knight, a Paris-based former radio journalist who worked in the Caribbean. Having access to radio allows you to get information not only on what is happening in your community but also on what is happening around the world, and people are able to share information, which makes for a powerful tool, he told IPS. Knight used radio to highlight issues such as post-partum depression, a condition that had not been discussed much by media in the region. Such reports can give women the support needed to address their feelings. Radio can also be used to help rehabilitate offenders, UNESCO says. One creative project was the development of prison radio in Jamaica, the first of its kind in the Caribbean. Both inmates and correctional officers were trained to produce and broadcast programmes in a scheme supported by UNESCO and the Canadian International Development Agency. One of the aims was to prepare prisoners for reintegration into society. It is not clear, however, whether these and
[cr-india] Radio at the crossroads: Nepal's community radios risk alienating the communities they claims to serve
[Thanks to George Lessard for this link] As we celebrate India's 115th community radio station, here's a cautionary tale from Nepal. Even if we discount the 200 licensed community stations in the country, Nepal has been a trail-blazer for CR in South Asia, and far ahead of the rest of us in the number and quality of their stations, and the editorial freedom they enjoy. Nepal's CR stations are allowed (gasp!) to broadcast news. But the increased commercialization of CR in Nepal, the politicization of the sector, dominance by local elites and, above all, the decline in local language programming -- all of which sound drearily familiar -- should set alarm bells ringing across South Asia, especially India. India's and Bangladesh's CR policies, which limit the quantum of non-local programming and commercial content, will probably mitigate some of these evils. In recent meetings with government agencies in Delhi, it was hugely encouraging to hear representatives from CR stations firmly turn down centrally produced content and seeking to limit the amount of 'sponsored' programmes over CR, the traditional cash cows of a radio station. As the author of the Nepal article says, the sustainability of community radio lies not in commercial sources but in the creation of social capital. When community stations rely on the market, they risk alienating the community. Sajan -- *Radio at the crossroads * Nepal's community radios risk alienating the communities they claims to serve Anthony Wille, 28 Oct - 03 Nov 2011 http://nepalitimes.com/issue/2011/10/28/Nation/18658 Community radio in Nepal is frequently celebrated as a model for radio broadcasting in South Asia. There are almost 200 licensed community stations on air across the country, often broadcasting to impoverished and remote areas. In theory, community radio props up grassroots democracy but there is a growing gap between the promise and reality of community radio in Nepal. The phenomenal growth of community radio in Nepal has been without oversight. Ownership is increasingly dominated by local elite who start stations in the name of the community. Privileged class and castes and politically well-connected males hold licenses through cooperatives or NGOs, whose limited objectives are often politically motivated, may be out of touch with the communities they serve. Publicity is the lifeblood of politicians, and the widespread ownership of radio sets has naturally made community radio a targeted publicity tool for politicians. The Community Radio Support Center estimates that political parties directly or indirectly operate up to 60 per cent of community radios currently on air. A look at a map of community radios shows clusters of three or more stations in many areas across the country, an indication of counterbalancing efforts among the three main parties. Beyond the problem of the manipulation of news and views that may come with the politicisation of community media, competition means a push towards larger transmitters. Increased overhead costs lead to heavier reliance on commercial sources of revenue and a reorientation of community stations towards the market. In a market-based model of media sustainability, the sponsors and advertisers are the buyers while the readers, listeners, and viewers are the consumers. Buyer demands usually overrule consumer demands, at least as long as they don't hamper the credibility of a media outlet to the extent that it turns off the media consumer. But the sustainability of community radio lies not in commercial sources but in the creation of social capital. When community stations rely on the market, they risk alienating the community. Other than profit or non-profit status, there is nothing to distinguish a community station from a commercial station in Nepal. Even though many stations broadcast in several languages, the actual amount of time devoted to local language programming is small. Many programs in Nepali may not be fully relatable to local language speakers. Where stations increasingly rely on commercial sources of revenue, this situation is unlikely to change. Local language programming may have little attractiveness to advertisers due to a lack of purchasing power among local language listeners, exposing the market's limitations. Syndicated programming centrally produced by NGOs and private production houses comprises a large percentage of community radio airtime. While this is a way for stations to cut costs and broadcast quality programming, it does reinforce traditional Kathmandu-centrism, eroding local orientation. Stations outside of Kathmandu have been shown to have more news programs than stations established inside the Valley, primarily sourced from content providers based in Kathmandu and dominated by national politics. As such, community stations can be said to be as national in outlook as any commercial station. Investigative pieces probing local
[cr-india] Supriya Sahu is Jt. Secy., IB Ministry; UK Varma tipped to be Secretary
*Uday Varma tipped to return to IB as Secretary*http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/uday-varma-tipped-return-ib-secretary Bhushan Nagpal, www.radioandmusic.com, 12 Oct 11 NEW DELHI: Uday K Varma, who had earlier served as Special Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, is tipped to succeed Raghu Menon as Secretary even as orders came promoting Supriya Sahu as the Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) in the Ministry. Varma is a senior Indian Administrative Service Officer from Madhya Pradesh belonging to the 1976 batch. He is presently serving as Secretary in the Micro, Small Medium Enterprises Ministry. After Raghu Menon demitted office on superannuation, Culture Secretary Jawahar Sircar was given additional charge of the post. Sahu is also an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1991 batch from Tamil Nadu. She has until now been Director (Broadcasting) in the same Ministry. Sahu will be replacing Arvind Kumar, who has been appointed as the new chief vigilance officer (CVO) of National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), though he has been asked to continue in IB Ministry 'until further orders'. Sahu had earlier been the District Collector of Nilgiris district, where she was the force behind the 'Say no to plastics' campaign to protect the eco-system of the hill station Ooty. Before that, she held the post of Additional Collector of Vellore district. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Orissa-based community radio - Radio Namaskar made it to the voice of the flood hit population
[Thanks to George Lessard for this link] I've heard that much the same thing has happened in Sikkim, Darjeeling and other parts of the North East (and Nepal) struck by yesterday's earthquake. Power is down, and so are telephone lines -- either jammed or dead. With power and cable systems affected, TV is dead, too. The commercial FM channels in Gangtok and Siliguri were off air for a long time, but they seem to be back on air now. And playing pop music Sajan Radio Namaskar: the voice of the flood hit population http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowDistrictNews.asp?id=29223 *Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; Bhubaneswar:* Night of 10th Sept was a black night for people of Gop Block in Puri district as the breach in the embankment of Kusabhadra river at Kusupur made flood water gush into the villages and even the Gop market that never saw a flood like this. Within a few minutes thousands of the families living in different villages lost their houses and belongings. Some died, many went missing. As the old mud and kuchha houses collapsed, people took shelter on roof top of nearest buildings where they had to spend 3 days. Experiencing the gravity of the situation, Radio Namaskar – the community radio of the locality soon started broadcasting information about the flood and about people in the affected areas. It was of immense help to people as, even, persons missing or stuck off in places could get information on the radio about their families and villages. As Radio Namaskar soon became the medium of communication in the flood gripped localities, local administration also tapped it as an opportunity to make announcements of updates and information. Not keeping the activities limited to broadcast of information only, Radio Namaskar also involved it in the rescue activities. A dedicated telephone line was used by Radio Namaskar to link the affected communities with administration and others through radio. Within a week, more than one thousand phone calls were received from people. 32 relief teams and number of individual volunteers coordinated and facilitated all the activities of Radio Namaskar in the flood affected area for which, many people could save their life. Apart from becoming the voice of the flood hit population, Radio Namaskar disseminated the way how Community Radios can play a crucial role in time of disasters. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Bush Radio facing closure
Bush Radio is one of South Africa's oldest community radio stations, and it's one of the models we studied when drafting India's CR policy. Some of you may remember Tanya Boschhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/51001020@N00/419891410/in/photostream, formerly of Bush Radio, who attended our first National Consultation on CR in 2007 (One of the memorable slides in her presentation showed a T-shirt that read: Bush Against War). The fact that one of South Africa's oldest and best know CR stations is on the verge of closure because they are unable to raise money for rent should give us pause. Ironically, Tanya's presentation at our National Consultation on CR was on 'Social and Financial Sustainability Issues in Community Radio'. Sajan *Bush Radio facing closure* Rusana Philander, 26 Aug http://www.thenewage.co.za/27011-1011-53-Bush_Radio_facing_closure Bush Radio, which has been at the forefront of community broadcasting for more than two decades, is facing closure over unpaid rent and other expenses. The Cape Town-based radio station is struggling to pay its rent and operational costs and needs extra funds. During the apartheid years Bush Radio campaigned against injustice. The station also actively campaigned for a free and independent broadcasting authority. The mother of community radio also played an incredible part in the shaping of the history of the new South Africa. According to managing director Brenda Leonard, their landlord had given them until the end of this month “to come up with a tangible proposal of how to raise money for rent”. “The total cost we are trying to raise is R30, which will include rent and operational costs until December,” she said. “If we decide to scale down on our projects, it will be to the detriment of the community. Every year we train 60 young people between the ages of six and 18 years in broadcasting. We train them to be radio presenters and to produce programmes. We also have a Youth Against Aids programme in which we engage communities in discussions around the issue. For this programme, we won the Prince Klause Award. We also won several other awards, including a silver medal at the New York Radio Festival, as well as the SABC Community Radio Award for news and current affairs,” she said. It is also at the same radio station where many journalists and others working in the media industry cut their teeth. This includes people like Vernon Adams, the station manager of Heart FM, Sandra Rosenberg from Good Hope FM, and many others. Bush Radio currently has a listenership of 275000 and, according to Leonard, the station is continuing to grow. “It would be a huge loss if the station should close its doors,” she said. For more information, the radio station can be contacted on 021 448 5450. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] borderline stupidity
Today's Times of India reports that Punjab border farmers still tune into Pak FM http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9596336.cms radio stations. According to the farmer families on the fringes of Ferozepur, the limited range of national radio broadcasts and the absence of any local FM station have kept radio services from Pakistan the most popular source of entertainment. Around the same time last year, the Indian government had become alarmed by the popularity of Nepal's FM radio channels in Bihar, along the Indo-Nepal border. According to various sources, some half a dozen Nepal FM radio stations are broadcasting programmes (anti-India advertisements and vulgar songs, according to one outraged newspaper report) into Bihar, especially Madhepura, Supaul, Madhubani, Kishanganj, Araria, Sheohar, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, and East and West Champaran districts. Regulars on this mailing list will recognize some of those districts as the ones where, during the 2008 Kosi floods, the Community Radio Forum had proposed setting up Emergency Radio Stations. The proposal was turned down: one of the government worthies, a corpulent Noah who sat on the file till the floods had receded, told us, You may broadcast flood-related messages on the surface, but how can we know what you will broadcast below that?, giving us a fascinating scientific insight into hitherto unknown capabilities of FM radio. But back in present day Bihar, all these ostensibly anti-Indian Nepali FM channels seem to thrive, for some odd reason, on Indian support. According to one report, advertisements by traders and industrialists belonging to Indian markets form the lion’s share of revenue for the channels, but, it adds bitterly, it is spent otherwise. 'Otherwise' presumably means a spot of India bashing. And it's not just traders and industrialists who advertise over these evil radio stations: Bihar elections are a windfall for Nepal's FM channels, with candidates for Bihar's assembly polls finding the FM radio stations of neighbouring Nepal quite handy in wooing voters particularly in the absence of similar FM channels on the Indian side of the border. Fancy that! While Intelligence Bureau officials in Bihar spend sleepless nights worrying about the misuse of Nepal’s FM radio by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Nepal’s Maoists for propaganda in villages bordering the Himalayan nation, their colleagues in Arunachal Pradesh are an even more harried lot. Chinese radio blares in Arunachal Pradesh screamed one headline in 2007, pointing out that the people in border districts of Arunachal Pradesh have easier access to Chinese radio and TV than Indian and that border villagers are accessing information and entertainment from Chinese radio with greater efficacy than AIR. Oh dear. So what does the Indian government do to counter the popularity of Pakistani, Chinese and Nepali FM channels along the border? In Bihar, for instance, they set up AIR relay centres in the border districts, which will relay AIR Patna's programmes in chaste Hindi while Nepal's FM channels along the border continue to broadcast -- without a doubt anti-Indian propaganda interspersed with vulgar songs -- in Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, Magahi and other local dialects spoken in Bihar and Eastern UP as well as the Terai. As one of the young farmers along the Punjab border said, while humming cheerfully -- and unpatriotically, I'm sure -- 'to the lyrics of famous songs sung by Pakistan's' singers, Despite the service by Prasar Bharti, we have never had the opportunity to regularly listen to any of the famous Punjab singers. [...] It's high time the government had an FM station here or some private channel for us. We want to listen to our own legends as well. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9596336.cms Sajan Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] First Tribal Community Radio Station to go on air at Bhabhra on July 23
[Thanks to Jaisaktivel for this link] First things first: this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first tribal community radio station in the world. It is probably not even the first in India. There are literally hundreds of tribal community radio stations in Latin America and North America, in New Zealand, Australia, PNG and the Asia Pacific in general, and no doubt dozens more in East Asia. Secondly, this is not a community radio station. It is owned and run by Vanya (a govt-run 'society') and the Tribal Welfare Dept. of Madhya Pradesh. As one can see from the YouTube videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707Jn8o3-gQ, it seems to be run entirely by non-tribals. The announcer speaks chaste Hindi. The station starts the day's broadcast with 'Vande Mataram', that well known tribal song. It is commendable that at least some of the programmes broadcast by Vanya Radio are in Bhili, a tribal dialect, but that does not make it a tribal radio station. AIR broadcasts in dozens of tribal dialects in central India and in the North East, where it also runs five 'community radio stations'. That does not make AIR a tribal or community broadcaster. According to the news story, the radio station will play an important role in disseminating information about various welfare schemes. That is what state-run radio stations do. AIR has done that for nearly 65 years now, at immense expense, without any marked success. Sajan *First Tribal Community Radio Station to go on air at Bhabhra on July 23* 21 July, Central Chronicle http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=64225 World's first Tribal Community Radio Station will go on air at Bhabhara (Alirajpur district) in Madhya Pradesh. The radio station set up with the assistance of Vanya and Tribal Welfare Department will broadcast programmes in 'Bhili' dialect by tribals. The function to launch the radio station will be held on July 23, 2011 at 11 am at Bhabhra, the birthplace of Amar Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad. BJP national president Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest of the function, which will be presided over by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Guests of Honour will include former Union Minister and MP Kantilal Bhuria, MP and State BJP president Prabhat Jha, SC, ST Welfare Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare and minister incharge of the district Mahendra Hardia, Alirajpur MLA Nagar Singh Chauhan and Jobat MLA Smt. Sulochna Rawat. The Bhabhra Radio Station will broadcast programmes for two hours daily, which can be heard at 90.4 megahertz frequency within 20 km radius. The radio station will be run by the local tribal community. The programmes prepared locally will be broadcast in their Bhili dialect. The radio station will play an important role in disseminating information about various welfare schemes on the one hand and on the other hand will also serve as a bridge between the people and the government. It is perhaps first occasion in the world that a Community Radio Station is being launched in tribals' own dialect in the wake of the State Government's efforts to ensure tribals' participation in administration. http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=64225 Related Links : First Tribal Radio Centre Of World To Be Launched At Bhabra On July 23 http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110719N24flag1=1 First Tribal Community Radio Station to go on air at Bhabhra on July 23 http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110721N9flag1=1 Madhya Pradesh tribals can now hear radio in their dialects http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110722N16flag1=1 Vanya Radio Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707Jn8o3-gQ --- Via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE Jaisakthivel, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Communication, MS University, Tirunelveli - 627012, India Visit: www.dxersguide.blogspot.com www.sarvadesavaanoli.blogspot.com Join: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sarvadesavanoli Mobile: +91 98413 66086 /// Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Phase III of commercial FM radio licensing approved
So, 839 new FM channels will come up in 227 new cities in the next phase of FM licensing. The good news is that news will be permitted on private (commercial) FM radio. The bad news is that only AIR news will be permitted, effectively turning private FM channels into AIR relay stations. Take a look at the categories of information that have been declared as '* non-news*': sporting events, traffic and weather, coverage of cultural events, festivals, coverage of topics pertaining to examinations, results, admissions, career counselling, availability of employment opportunities, public announcements pertaining to civic amenities like electricity, water supply, natural calamities, health alerts etc. as provided by the local administration. (I particularly liked that bit about civic amenities like electricity, water supply, natural calamities... etc). Since these categories have been declared as 'non-news', CR stations also can presumably broadcast such non-news info, and not fall afoul of the new FCRA rules that prohibit foreign funding for NGOs that engage in news broadcasting or publishing. If anyone wants the full list of 227 cities in FM Phase III, and the number of new frequencies on offer in each city, please let me know. Sajan * * *Policy Guidelines for expansion of FM Radio Broadcasting services through private agencies (Phase-Ill)* 7 July 2011, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=61 The Union Cabinet in its meeting today has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to approve of the 'Policy Guidelines on Expansion of FM radio broadcasting services through private agencies (Phase-Ill)'. Cabinet has also cleared the proposal of the Ministry for conducting ascending e-auction, as followed by Department of Telecommunications for the auction of 3G and BWA spectrum, mutatis-mutandis, for award of license of FM Channels, as recommended by the GoM on Licensing Methodology for FM Phase-Ill. FM Phase-Ill Policy extends FM radio services to about 227 new cities, in addition to the present 86 cities, with a total of 839 new FM radio Channels in 294 cities. Phase -III policy will result in coverage of all cities with a population of one lakh and above with private FM radio channels. *Salient features of the approved Policy for Phase-Ill as against Phase-11 are as under;- * i) Radio operators have been permitted carriage of news bulletins of All India Radio. ii) Broadcast pertaining to the certain categories like information pertaining to sporting events, traffic and weather, coverage of cultural events, festivals, coverage of topics pertaining to examinations, results, admissions, career counselling, availability of employment opportunities, public announcements pertaining to civic amenities like electricity, water supply, natural calamities, health alerts etc. as provided by the local administration will be treated as non-news and current affairs broadcast and will therefore be permissible. iii) The limit on the ownership of Channels, at the national level, allocated to an entity has been retained at 15%. However channels allotted in Jammu Kashmir, North Eastern States and island territories will be allowed over and above the 15% national limit to incentivise the bidding for channels in such areas; iv) Private operators have been allowed to own more than one channel but not more than 40% of the total channels in a city subject to a minimum of three different operators in the city. v) FDI+FII limit in a private FM radio broadcasting company has been increased from 20% to 26%; (vi) Networking of channels will be permissible within a private FM broadcaster's own network across the country instead of in 'C' and 'D’ category cities only of a region allowed at present. (vii) A choice is proposed to be given to the private FM broadcasters to choose any agency other than BECIL for construction of CTI within a period of 3 months of issuance of LOI failing which BECIL will automatically become the system integrator and set up co-location facilities and CTI. (viii) Special incentives for North East (NE) Region and Jammu Kashmir (JK) and Island territories: • Private FM Radio broadcasters in North East (NE) Region and Jammu Kashmir (JK) and Island territories will be required to pay half the rate of annual license fee for an initial period of three years from the date from which the annual license fee becomes payable and the permission period of fifteen (15) years begins. • The revised fee structure has also been made applicable for a period of three years, from the date of issuance of guidelines, to the existing operators in these States to enable them to effectively compete with the new operators. • Apart from the fee relaxation, it is further proposed that Prasar Bharati infrastructure would be made available at half the lease rentals for similar category cities in such areas. • The limit on the ownership of Channels, at the national level, allocated to
[cr-india] Pakistani Province Reaches Out Through Radio
Remarkably frank interview with Director for Information Public Relations, North West (KPK) Province, Pakistan on the govt's plans to set up 24 'community radio' stations in the Northwest Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. They plan to broadcast local news and 'community-driven' content on these radio stations, on the grounds that the provincial government understands that you can’t keep people stupid for a long time. Funny, the central government here hasn't understood that yet. Asked why 'Mullah Radihttp://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/492-Mullah-Radio.htmlo' is more popular in the Northwest Province than state-run radio, Mr.Shuaib-u-din laughs and says, This is a question for research, but I would like to share one point that I have heard my radio stations' presenters who are talking on health, education, governance, and they wrap up each program with one conclusion and that is “our solution of problems is lying in Islam”. Being Muslim, I can’t disagree with that message, but it leaves no room for debate and dialog. Ameen. Sajan * * *Pakistani Province Reaches Out Through Radio* By Tayyeb Afridi http://www.kutnews.org/post/pakistani-province-reaches-out-through-radio *Mr. Shuaib-u-din, Director of Information and Public Relations for Northwest Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province discusses how provincially-controlled radio will compete with so-called Mullah Radio stations in the region near the Pakistan-Afghani border.* Tayyeb Afridi is a Pakistani journalist from the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan. He visited KUT on a US Pakistan Journalism Exchange through the International Center for Journalists. Northwest Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province, previously called the Northwest Frontier Province, is trying to empower local community by installing community radios in troubled regions. This is an effort to counter the influence of illegal radio, or Mullah Radio, in Northwest Pakistan’s settled and tribal districts. Settled districts are the responsibility of the provincial government that came into power in February 2008 elections. The provincial government fought the Taliban in Swat, Bunner, Dir valleys. At a press conference, I got chance to ask few questions of the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Shuaib-u-din, about media policy in Northwest Pakistan Khyber Province. He is implementing government media policy in KPK, Pakistan. Tayyeb Afridi: What urged the provincial government to install new radio stations in KPK province, despite having regional stations of Radio Pakistan? Shuaib-u-din: Radio Pakistan is a national radio, and they are broadcasting in national language. And when you are broadcasting in national language Urdu and international language English, you are missing the huge population of the province. As you know, according to government statistics, 75 percent people don’t understand Urdu and English. When this much population of your province is not getting your message, what would happen? They would fall to propaganda of Mullah Radio, as happened in Swat, Bunner, Dir, the respective districts of Northwest Pakistan. By establishing local radio stations, the government will be able to reach their message in a local language to the [province's] population of 20 million, and this will give them a sense they are participating in local government. Tayyeb: What made it possible to establish provincially controlled radio stations, since dealing with information falls under federal jurisdiction? Shuaib-u-din: You know, the immediate problem of terrorism in Northwest Pakistan settled and tribal areas was widely propagated by Mullah Radio, thus it was a justified demand of the provincial government to establish local radio. However, this decision to establish provincial radio was according to the constitution of Pakistan. It says the federal government shall not unreasonably refuse to entrust to a provincial government such functions with respect to broadcasting and telecasting. Tayyeb: How would you handle the issue of credibility when it comes to government media? Shuaib-u-din: Yes, I understand this concern, and therefore the provincial government has decided to give a feeling of participation to local people, and they should be engaged in dialog for their development. We are working on semi-autonomous structure of the radio to ensure people are represented. We will go further as time passes, to increasingly empower these radio stations with rules to engage their community. Tayyeb: What kind of content would be programmed on these radio stations? Shuaib-u-din: These channels will be predominantly infotainment. It would carry local news, thematic and cultural programming. It will also carry public service announcements and public advertisements that appeared in newspapers in order to reach a large audience. The provincial government understands that you can’t keep people stupid for a long time, and that is why
[cr-india] A village waits for its radio station' (Cheeded, Andhra Pradesh)
*After all the hard work, a village waits for its radio station* Chinki Sinha, The Indian Express, 3 Jun 2011 http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/After-all-the-hard-work--a-village-waits-for-its-radio-station/798823/ New Delhi: The 935 people in this tiny village are waiting to tune in to their own radio frequency, a reward they have been promised for their good work. Cheeded, in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh, will be the first village in the country to be rewarded with a set of radio frequency for its work in the implementation of rural development schemes such as NHRM, NREGA and those related to education. For six months, volunteers with the Ministry of Rural Development—village-based cadres under the Bharat Nirman project who act as a bridge between the administration and the people—worked on the needs of the village. They even prohibited liquor sale in the village as they figured villagers spent an average of Rs 10,000 a day on alcohol. The volunteers worked with primary health clinics to ensure better health and nutrition for the villagers, got the state government to agree to their demand of digging wells in the village (something that had been prohibited by the state in view of the rampant corruption) and got funds for constructing toilets in each household. For all this work, the Rural Development ministry has decided to reward the village with its own community radio station. It is an incentive that will be extended to other such villages that score in terms of implementing development schemes under the ministry. The Rural Development ministry wrote to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, recommending Cheeded village for an exclusive radio frequency, where members can discuss issues like micro-credit or animal husbandry. K Chandramouli, Commissioner of the Andhra Pradesh Academy of Rural Development, said the radio frequency incentive was in line with the ministry’s aim of eliminating gaps in communication between the government and the beneficiaries. “The community radio plan instills a sense of ownership among the villagers. Community radio is about concerns that both the listener and the speaker share. Why would a villager in a remote village want to know about the Prime Minister’s visit to Mauritius or Shah Rukh Khan’s tour of the US,” said Chandramouli. “For instance, the speaker can announce a programme where a woman from a particular village can share her experiences about borrowing money and setting up some industry.” Community radio stations have a reception range of 40-50 km and villages in that radius can tune in. An exclusive set of frequency will be given to the villages that become eligible. In Andhra, villages like Jaheerabad and Tirupathi have their own community radios set up by NGOs. These radio stations acted as a catalyst for development as villagers were made aware of the rural schemes through programmes broadcast on radio. The success of these radio stations encouraged the ministry to award radio frequencies to model villages. It takes Rs 20,000 to set up a community radio station and the funds will be allocated from the ministry’s Lab-to-Land project, which focuses on ensuring that development schemes reach people and not just remain on paper because of lack of awareness. Of the six villages in Andhra Pradesh that have their radio frequency sets, Cheeded will be the first to win one. “It is not just radio, it is community action. In seven months, the kind of churning that took place in these villages is an indicator of the success of the Bharat Nirman programme,” Niten Chandar, Joint Secretary in the ministry, said. “Rs 8 lakh crore is spent on rural development schemes every year. Cheeded is an experiment. It is a very vibrant community and every household has a toilet, clean water and reserve forest land. Institutional delivery has been fixed.” Chandar said the ‘Bharat Nirman Volunteers’ scheme will ensure the right implementation of all schemes and programmes. Already, 20,000 volunteers have been trained in 40 blocks across the country. “These Bharat Nirman volunteers will see if their village meets the objectives and we will decide on the basis of their reports,” he said. “It is ambitious but we are hopeful it will work,” an official said. Meanwhile, Cheeded is waiting to tune in. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] First community radio station on air in Bangladesh
First community radio on air -- Lokobetar's test run starts in Barguna The Daily Star, 31 May 2011 http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=187959 The country's first community radio named Lokobetar has begun test transmission in the district town of Barguna to build public opinion on development issues like democracy, good governance, human rights, anti-corruption, health and women empowerment. Mass-Line Media Centre (MMC), a development organisation, with financial and technical support from Unesco, set up the radio station, which has been on trial since May 27 and is expected to go for full-fledged transmission by mid-June. MMC officials will operate the radio while local community will star in the programmes. Tarek Mahmud, acting head of Lokobetar, said the radio equipment costs stand at about Tk 10 lakh. The radio now broadcasts programmes for an hour daily, which would be increased gradually, said MMC officials. Musical programmes are being transmitted with some social messages on issues such as public health, education, women oppression, child marriage, and dowry. Weather and agriculture news are also on the list. In 1998 MMC applied to the information ministry asking for licence for community radio. The government provided 14 licences in April last year. About 17 kilometers circle of Barguna town will get the FM 99.2 radio frequency of Lokobetar while 12 lakh people have been targeted. The programme can be listened on radio set or mobile handset. Although the radio has been on test run, the operator has yet to set up a 100-feet high antenna structure. Rather, the antenna has been set up on the rooftop of a house. So the targeted group will not receive the signal at the moment. The studio is also yet to be built, said Mahmud. Nyma Nargis, project officer (communication and information) of Unesco, said, We believe community radio will play a successful role in creating mass awareness on issues such as democracy, good governance, human rights, anti-corruption movement, health, environment, women empowerment, gender, youth and child rights, and non-formal education. She said communities would be better prepared to accept the radio station and interested to engage in the activities related to community radio programming. Unesco Dhaka office initially provided two community radio stations. The Centre for Communication and Development (CCD), a Rajshahi-based media organisation, will operate the other radio station that would come into transmission soon. The government has a plan to establish a community radio on agriculture information services in Barguna. [Thanks to George Lessard for the link] Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Now, community radio service on your mobiles!
*Now, community radio service on your mobiles!* Source: Niyati Rana, DNA, 23.5.11 Ahmedabad: How does the idea of operating a community radio station with mobile phones sound? Listening to informative programmes, 'airing' advertisements and filtering content generated by community members — all this could be done using simple cellphones! The unconventional method of operating a community radio station using a new application, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), is proposed by Prof Kavitha Ranganathan and Prof Ankur Sarin, faculty members at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). MANETS are conventionally used in areas like disaster recovery or military operations. In a working paper titled A Voice for the Voiceless: Peer-to-peer Mobile Phone Networks for a Community Radio Service, Ranganathan and Sarin propose a decentralised community station in which users will be required to buy a basic low-end mobile phone preloaded with the MANET software. The software is used for groups of mobile devices without any centralised administration or control which form an ad hoc network among themselves. The paper states that if there are enough such users, the phone will automatically form an exclusive network among them enabling users to talk to one another and exchange other forms of data. The system the paper proposes is built around the idea of community participation which is the essence of community media. The paper argues that it found two schemes particularly promising for the application: Dynamic-Prob and SBA-Adaptive. We envision a true peer service where any participant of the peer-topeer network can be a source of audio content. This entails each phone in the network to broadcast reliable and efficient voice-based data packets to every other node in the network, states the paper. The idea of the MANET based community radio channel is to be completely decentralised. Every community member is equally equipped to air their content on the radio service, without a central authority choosing or filtering the content. To decide which user will be allowed to broadcast at what time, the paper proposes a weekly in-person meeting of the community members where all users interested in an airslot can participate. A weekly schedule can be drawn up in a democratic fashion, a simple table of node identities (phone numbers), start times and end times. This table can then be confidentially broadcast to all nodes and stored in each peer phone's memory. When a user tries to broadcast content, it is only forwarded to other nodes if the schedule permits it, states the paper. To filter content during broadcast, the paper suggests use of a decentralised reputation based scheme where users can keep track of past performance of their peers and regulate participation depending on their reputation. http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GUJ-AHD-now-community-radio-service-on-your-mobiles-2126968.html Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] On-line DAVP empanelment for CRS is now operational
Dear all, We've been informed by the Ministry of Information Broadcasting, Govt. of India, that the on-line CRS empanelmenthttp://www.davp.nic.in/crs_empanel.htmform on DAVP website is operational now: http://www.davp.nic.in/fresh_crs/em_rc_agn_fresh.aspx If your CR station has been operational for at least three months, please register with DAVP as soon as you can. with regards, Sajan Sajan Venniyoor General Secretary Community Radio Forum of India Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] CR Capacity Building Workshop, 12-14 March 2011, New Delhi
Dear All, We are pleased to announce that the CR Forum, with the support of the Ministry of Information Broadcasting, Govt. of India, is conducting an advanced capacity building workshop for LoI holders, GoPA holders and recently operationalized CR stations in New Delhi from 12 to 14 March 2011. All eligible organizations from North and Central India as well as the North East are requested to contact the CRF National Coordinator, Karan Minz on +91 076120 or email him at karan.m...@gmail.com if they wish to participate in this workshop. Please note that similar workshops are being held in Bhuj (Kutch) from 17-19 February and in Mumbai from 6-8 March, the details of which have already been posted on this list. warm regards, Sajan For President Community Radio Forum of India Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] on spectrum allocation
It's instructive to look at the time-lines for issuing wireless licenses for highly sensitive -- and potentially national-security threatening -- uses like, say, community radio on the one hand, and for inconsequential billion dollar pan-India services like telecom on the other. 27 Oct 2003: TRAI releases recommendations for award of new UAS License 31 Oct 2003: Cabinet approves TRAI recommendations on UASL 12 Nov 2003: Tata applies for UASL licenses 24 Nov 2003: DoT approves Tatas' application 30 Jan 2004: Tata gets UAS License Three months from start to finish. 19 August 2000: Deccan Development Society (DDS) applies for CR license 11 January 2002: DDS application turned down by govt. 9 Dec 2004: TRAI recommendations on Community Radio 16 Nov 2006: Cabinet approves TRAI recommendations on CR 9 July 2007 (approx): DDS application 'sent for clearance' 15 Oct 2008: DDS receives wireless license and starts broadcasting Well, that was quick. Between 'sent for clearance' and issue of WoL, there's usually a couple of years. The recent Justice Shivraj Patil Committee Report on spectrum allocation and licensing has some pretty caustic comments about the role of WPC in steadfastly looking the other way when decisions were made in the matter of formulation of procedures involving criteria for allotment of spectrum and its pricing. Naming names, the report goes on to say that it was the responsibility of Wireless Advisor/WPC Wing to have reviewed spectrum utilization as also revised NFAP every two years, which of course it didn't. Doesn't. Or doesn't let us know if it does. In his recommendations, Justice Patil says: 8.1.(xiv): There is a greater need for transparency about spectrum allocation and assignment. As a first step, the DoT should put in public domain, spectrum allocations made to various agencies with details of quantum, geographical locations, technology employed etc. This information should be widely advertised on website and should be regularly updated. I wouldn't hold my breath. It is not for nothing that the Terms of Reference in the Govt OM setting up the one-man committee specifically calls upon Justice Patil to suggest remedial measures to avoid in future. Sajan The full report http://www.dot.gov.in/miscellaneous/OMC/report.pdf and annexures can be accessed here: http://www.dot.gov.in/miscellaneous/OMC/OMC.htm Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] DAVP empanelment notice for CRS
The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) has issued guidelines for the empanelment of Community Radio Stations. The terms and conditions have been uploaded on the DAVP website http://www.davp.nic.inand can be found here: http://www.davp.nic.in/crs_empanel.htm. DAVP will start accepting empanelment applications in 3-4 working days. Sajan Sajan Venniyoor General Secretary Community Radio Forum of India Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] CR Capacity Building Workshop, 6-8 March, Mumbai
Dear All, We are pleased to announce that the CR Forum, with the support of the Ministry of Information Broadcasting, Govt. of India, is conducting an advanced capacity building workshop for LoI holders, GoPA holders and recently operationalized CR stations at Mumbai from 6-8 March 2011. Our local host is Nomad India Network. All eligible organizations from Maharashtra, Goa and Madhya Pradesh are requested to contact the CRF National Coordinator, Karan Minz on +91 076120 or email him at karan.m...@gmail.com if they wish to participate in this workshop. Depending on the availability of seats, we would also consider on merits participation by eligible organizations from other states and UTs (except Gujarat and Rajasthan), including those from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala who are unable to attend the CR workshop in Nagapattinam on 28-30 January. Please note that a similar workshop will be conducted in Bhuj (Kutch) from 17-19 February 2011, the details of which have already been posted on this list. warm regards, Sajan For President Community Radio Forum of India Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
Re: [cr-india] MIB notice regarding 'CR consultants' middlemen
On 10 January 2011 11:42, Vickram Crishna v1cl...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Sajan, it is my impression that the actual vetting process demands some kind of backgrounder Well, yes and no. The vetting process involves some fact-checking by a fairly generous Screening Committee and presumably some tougher background checks by the Home Ministry. None of this requires a 'backgrounder', really, and certainly not the same backgrounder -- each with exactly the same observations and spelling mistakes -- that typically 6-10 applicants submit at each screening. - this is the scenario in which these 'posing consultants' began to thrive, although a project report is not their only interventionary role. But I could be mistaken. You are right; the backgrounder is just the beginning. The applicants are apparently promised everything from licenses, to funding to FCRA clearance... each at a price, of course. I should add here that many of these bogus 'project reports' are submitted by genuine community-based groups, who just don't have the kind of literary skills enjoyed by Universities and urban NGOs which walk away with the majority of CR licenses. This makes them particularly vulnerable to the baloney of (usually) Delhi-based 'consultants'... or should we call them lobbyists? Maybe your pals at the Ministry can be given a gentle kick in the direction of lowering the real costs (not the application and spectrum fees) borne by license applicants. The higher the cost, the more likely it is that an unhealthy number of licenses will be won (will continue to be won?) by those who can navigate through misty dank corridors, rather than those who want to serve their communities. I wish we had pals at four Ministries, especially the Telecom Ministry. As you can see from the MIB's Notice, they are quite keen to do things the right way, but they have very little influence over, say, MHA or DoT. An unhealthy number of CR licenses continue to be won by those who can navigate through misty dank corridors, while those who really want to serve their communities seem to be the infrequent and accidental beneficiaries of Galbraith's trickle-down theory (If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.) Sajan http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com *From:* sajan venniyoor venniy...@gmail.com *To:* CR India cr-india@sarai.net *Sent:* Mon, 10 January, 2011 10:19:40 *Subject:* [cr-india] MIB notice regarding 'CR consultants' middlemen NOTICE TO NGOS / EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS / TRUSTS APPLYING FOR SETTING UP OF COMMUNITY RADIO STATION During the meeting of the Screening Committee for CRS, it has been observed that many applicants have enclosed Project Reports along with their application form. Most of these reports have been prepared in a specified format which indicates that some individuals posing as Consultants are preparing these Project Reports on behalf of the applicants of the Community Radio Stations to submit along with the application form. 2. This is to clarify to all concerned that NO Project Report is required to be submitted for CRS by the applicants. The applicants should fill up only the application form (with enclosures) which is already available on the Ministry’s website, www.mib.gov.in. *There is no need for any applicant to submit any kind of Project Report to the Ministry as it is not required under the Guidelines. *All Community Radio aspirants are therefore advised not to approach any middlemen/consultants for preparation of any kind of Project Report to be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and waste their money and resources. Necessary details regarding CRS are available on Ministry’s website. Applicants can also apply online at http://www.cronlineindia.net/default.asp. A filled up sample application is also available for reference at the above mentioned address. (Signed) Supriya Sahu Director (BC) 6/1/2011 Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] MIB notice regarding 'CR consultants' middlemen
NOTICE TO NGOS / EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS / TRUSTS APPLYING FOR SETTING UP OF COMMUNITY RADIO STATION During the meeting of the Screening Committee for CRS, it has been observed that many applicants have enclosed Project Reports along with their application form. Most of these reports have been prepared in a specified format which indicates that some individuals posing as Consultants are preparing these Project Reports on behalf of the applicants of the Community Radio Stations to submit along with the application form. 2. This is to clarify to all concerned that NO Project Report is required to be submitted for CRS by the applicants. The applicants should fill up only the application form (with enclosures) which is already available on the Ministry’s website, www.mib.gov.in. *There is no need for any applicant to submit any kind of Project Report to the Ministry as it is not required under the Guidelines. *All Community Radio aspirants are therefore advised not to approach any middlemen/consultants for preparation of any kind of Project Report to be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and waste their money and resources. Necessary details regarding CRS are available on Ministry’s website. Applicants can also apply online at http://www.cronlineindia.net/default.asp. A filled up sample application is also available for reference at the above mentioned address. (Signed) Supriya Sahu Director (BC) 6/1/2011 Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] IB Secy hopes community radios will begin sharing software
IB Secy hopes community radios will begin sharing software RnM Team, 14 Dec 10 http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/raghu-menon-hopes-community-radios-will-begin-sharing-software NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Raghu Menon today said community radio has to be a two-way medium so that people could make better use of the information being imparted. He also expressed the hope that community radio stations that have already come up in the country will begin exchanging programmes so that their effectiveness increases. A blueprint plan of action should be set up for networking and content sharing amongst the Community Radio. He also hoped that the content would not only meant for the institution that sets up the community radio, but inhabitants around it. He also regretted that the community radios at present appeared to be concentrated in around five states, and there were no applications from north east India in this regard. He said community radio should not be funded by the Government or donors, but should create a system of seed money that can be depended upon. If sustainability of the Community Radio Movement suffered due to lack of funding, the Ministry could consider introducing a new scheme in the 12th Plan to at least provide some quantum of the initial non-recurring cost as 'seed money'. Menon was speaking at a three-day National Consultation on Community Radio Services which commenced today with the objective of carving out a new roadmap for mainstreaming community radio as an effective outreach tool, not only within the media landscape but also a tool for empowering disadvantaged communities. Menon said the purpose of the Consultation was to bring about an informed debate about the policy and administrative changes that were necessary to overcome the challenges being faced by Community Radio Stations today. This included cumbersome licensing procedures, dearth of funds for setting up and operationalising such stations, spectrum constraints and the lack of technical and professional training. He said the Ministry was aware of functional constraints and had undertaken measures to streamline the process. Some of the initiatives included expediting the process of filing applications through online filing system for speedy clearances, awareness generation through workshops and the regular meetings of the Inter Ministerial Committee to expedite the clearances. Due to these initiatives, 263 Letters of Intent (LoI) had been issued and 121 Grant of Permission Agreement with various organizations had been undertaken. It had also been decided to organise 'Capacity Building Workshops' for the existing Community Radio Stations. This would enable the functioning organisations to develop their skills, content and outreach and become a tool of effective two way communication highlighting the aspirations of the community. As part of the future roadmap, Menon mentioned that community oriented messages could be effectively placed through the integrated efforts of government departments like health, education, rural development, women and child development including programmes such as NRHM, Micro-credit Schemes involving Self Help Groups and NREG Scheme. He added that the content emanating from Community Radio Stations evinced a lot of interest from far flung areas and communities. In such places, the content from the mainstream media evoked little interest and did not cater to the information needs of the region. UNESCO Director for Division for Communication Development Paris W Jayaweera stated that the growth of the Community Radio movement could be facilitated by incorporating and sharing the best practices of other countries. These included inclusion of certain indicators which facilitated growth such as pricing and structure of licenses not being prohibitive to the growth of such stations, special quotas within the spectrum for Community Radio operations and special pricing norms for community radio tools and equipment. Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) Arvind Kumar highlighted the initiatives taken by the Ministry in extending the outreach of the Community Radio Stations including the enhancement of scope of eligibility in 2006. Due to this initiative, non Governmental and Community based organisations with at least three years of legal existence were eligible to participate. The license period was increased from three to five years and the bank guarantee was reduced to Rs.25,000 from Rs.50,000. To improve the viability of operations, advertising up to 5 minutes per hour of broadcast was allowed as part of business operational plan. The consultation seeks to analyse, assess and amend the current Community Radio Policy in achieving the goals of disseminating information, strengthening grass-root democracy and fulfilling social development objectives and discuss issues of financial social sustainability of Community Radio Stations. So far 263 Letter of Intents
[cr-india] First campus-based CR station in the North East
First community radio service of NE launched The Assam Tribune, 22 Nov 2010 http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=nov2210/city05 GUWAHATI, Nov 21 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday launched the first community radio service of the North East ‘Jnan Taranga’ under the aegis of Krishnakanta Handique State Open University (KKHSOU) at a function held at NEDFI House here, said a press release. Lauding the initiative of KKHSOU for starting the first radio community service in the region, Gogoi said that it would go a long way in educating the students of the State and the region in different disciplines. The Chief Minister said though there has been a spurt in the growth of TV channels and Internet, radio still continues to remain a powerful medium of communication. He said his Government would provide necessary assistance to set up more radio stations across the State. He suggested to the authorities of KKHSOU to start airing stories on the successful entrepreneurs of the State and the region to motivate and inspire the upcoming generation. Underscoring the need for imparting education in tune with the times, Gogoi asked the authorities of KKHSOU to introduce new subjects to attract more and more students. “Knowledge is power and our biggest asset. A knowledge-based society can contribute more than anything else towards the rapid progress and development of a society,” he said adding that his Government has given added thrust to education in the last nine years. Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor of KKHSOU, Prof Shrinath Baruah said that with the launch of the first community radio service, the university is now looking forward to starting such service in Lakhimpur Girls’ College and Garhgaon College. The Ministry of IB has accorded necessary approval to start such service in the two colleges. Baruah further said the university plans to set up 30 study centres in educational institutions and would air programmes from the headquarters through BSNL line on lease. “A web portal is also on the anvil in 2011. It will enable students to download learning materials both print and visual,” he added. Vice Chancellor, Gauhati University, Okhil Kr. Medhi, Director, Distance Education, RR Rosiah and former deputy director, Prachar Bharati, RN Chakraborty also spoke on the occasion. ‘Jnan Taranga’ which was aired on an experimental basis on January 28, 2009 on 90.4 FM, will be available on the same frequency daily from 5 pm to 7 pm, morning 6 to 8 and in the afternoon from 12 to 2. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Rural Development Ministry calls for EOI for setting up CR stations
Ministry of Rural Development, India, has called for Expressions of Interest for setting up and operationalizing CR stations for Self-Help Groups (SHGs). You can check it out here: http://rural.nic.in/tenders/IEC_%20EOI.pdf 11 Community radio 11.1 *Setting up community radio * Mobilise and motivate SHGs about need for Community Radios(CRs), organise interaction of SHGs with other ongoing CR experiments, train them in identifying their information needs, train them in using of simple recording devices, editing, production of programmes, set up CR stations. Experience : 5 years / Annual Turnover : `20 crores *Operationalization of community radios for SHGs * Train the SHGs in management of Stations, revenue generation, content creation, provide technical and content generation support for an initial period of 6 months to the SHGs in running the CR station. Experience : 5 years / Annual Turnover : `20 crores Sajan Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Competition funds open-source media projects
Competition funds open-source media projects in the public interest Nov. 03, 2010 A media innovation contest is accepting project proposals that utilize open-source technology and distribute news in the public interest. The deadline for submissions is December 1 and winners will be announced in June 2011. The Knight News Challenge, sponsored by the Knight Foundation, funds marketing and promotion of a media project, as well as implementation. Proposals must fall into one of four categories: mobile delivery, evaluating authenticity of news, economic sustainability or geographically designated communities. The competition is open to nonprofits, for-profits and individuals. For more information, go to http://www.newschallenge.org/ [Thanks to Dr. Sundeep Muppidi for this linkhttp://networkedblogs.com/a1LJh ] Sajan Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] New Audio Tool: Hindenburg - Audio Editing Software
[thanks to George Lessard for this link] * NEW TOOL: HINDENBURG - Audio Editing Software * Transom is always interested in tools that make radio storytelling easier, better, and cheaper. Lately, our Tools Editor Jeff Towne has been testing some alternatives to ProTools and just test-drove Hindenburg from the Danish Company, Nsaka, and finds it has the advantage of being designed specifically for us. Jeff says, It’s built by radio people for making radio stories, podcasts and other documentary-style productions, rather than multi-track music projects. The developers seem intent on keeping the program simple and stable, easy to learn and use, even by non-technical people. And they have a free version. For both Mac and PC. Check it. http://transom.org/?p=12909 = While we at Transom are not quite ready to abandon Pro Tools for all our audio productions, Hindenburg is more than sufficient for many of them, and provides a less-expensive, less-daunting entry point for reporters and producers who wish to concentrate more on telling the story, and less on the technique of digital editing. -Jeff Towne, continued at Transom.org Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Three tribal radio stations coming up in Madhya Pradesh
I suppose one should be grateful to the MP government for not calling them community radio stations though these 'tribal radio stations' are, of course, licensed under the CR policy. These are just three among 8 or 10 radio stations that the MP government plans to set up in local schools, or under their own 'autonomous' departments. There is a crying need for tribal community radio stations. But putting them in government schools, under the charge of wholly mystified school headmasters and teachers (I've spoken to them) is a needlessly complicated way of throwing away large sums of money. Sajan * * *Three tribal radio stations coming up in MP* 10/05/2010, http://igovernment.in/site/three-tribal-radio-stations-coming-mp-38530 Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to establish three radio stations in tribal-dominated regions of the state. The radio stations will start functioning from November 1 to mark the foundation day of the State of Madhya Pradesh. The radio stations are being established in Khalwa region of Khandwa district, Chicholi (Betul district) and Tamia (Chhindwara district). All the radio stations will air programmes in the dialects of the tribals of the selected regions, official sources here said. The 9 FM radio channel has been offered the permission by the central government to run the radio stations. The programme content of the radio stations will be on health, education and issues of public importance aired in local dialects. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Call for Nominations: AMIC ASIA COMMUNICATION AWARD 2011
[from Sundeep Muppidi, AMIC] *Call for Nominations: AMIC ASIA COMMUNICATION AWARD 2011* Sep.14, 2010 http://amic.org.sg/blog/2010/09/14/amic-asia-communication-award-2011/ *Honoring excellence in media and communications* *Intent:* The AMIC Asia Communication Award recognizes outstanding achievement in research, education, institution building, and excellence in journalism and other media endeavors. Individuals of all nationalities are eligible for this award, which is given yearly at the AMIC annual meeting at the discretion of the AMIC board of directors. *Criteria:* The AMIC Asia Communication Award recognizes lasting contributions under the following categories: - Research—contributions to the body of media research, such as the launching and completion of major research projects or the development of enduring theoretical approaches to media and communications. - Education—lasting contributions in nurturing successive generations of media, communications, or journalism students and scholars. - Institution building—establishment of key communications and media programs, research centers, or academic journals. - Excellence in journalism, whether online or in print—sustained contributions to public service and the highest journalistic principles. - Other media and communication contributions—from time to time the board may present the AMIC Communication Award to media practitioners for outstanding commitment and excellence in their field of endeavor. *Focus:* An individual will be honored based on the impact that his or her work has had on Asian communications and media. The impact of the contribution can be focused on a single country within Asia, on a region within Asia, or on the whole of Asia. While the awardees need not be Asian, preference is accorded to regional actors. *Nominations:* Nominations for the AMIC Asia Communication Award are accepted from any member in good standing with the association. Nominations, along with supporting documentation, are received from September 1st through December 31st of each year and should be addressed to the Secretary General of the Association, Dr. Sundeep R. Muppidi. *Send nominations to:* AMIC Asia Communication Award—Nominations, Attn: Sundeep R. Muppidi, Office of the Secretary General c/o Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) #04-19, Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Building, 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 tel: +65 6792-7570 fax: +65 6792-7129 e-mail: sundeepmupp...@amic.org.sg homepage: www.amic.org.sg A three-member selection committee reviews nominations and presents a recommendation to the AMIC board of directors. The board will convene to review nominations and render a decision on the year’s nominee. The decision of the board shall be by majority vote and is final. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Copyright Board goes for revenue share solution on radio-music industry royalty issue
This is going to have interesting implications for Community Radio. In May 2008, the Supreme Court had ordered the hitherto somnolent *Copyright Board *to take a decision regarding music royalty for FM radio. Since India's copyright policy was apparently framed by Dick Turpin, the music industry holds our radio channels to ransom, skimming off a reported 18% of their revenues as music royalty. This is worse than it sounds because -- thanks to a flat rate for all FM channels -- the smaller stations, in 'C' and 'D' category towns, are probably handing over half their profits to the music industry. (Internationally, music royalty for commercial radio is typically about 2% of net revenue). PPL IPRS were also squeezing community radio for up to Rs.200,000 a year -- on a deal brokered by some mysterious, well, broker -- for the privilege of playing Bollywood Top 20 two hours a day. I've asked the IB Ministry if the Copyright Board's ruling applies to CR as well (as it should) and assured them that we'd be happy to pay 2% of our net revenue, such as it is, as music royalty. (Since we'd have to earn Rs.1 crore per year to pay Rs.2 lakhs as royalty, as we do today, 2% revenue share would be a considerable improvement. Actually, going by international practice, we have a strong case for making music on CR royalty-free). Now, what are the implications for CR? Would CR stations -- especially the urban ones -- be thrilled at the prospect of playing Himesh Reshammiya from dawn till dusk, for this affordable fee? Would the 2% revenue-share tempt many dodgy 'NGOs' and 'educational institutions' to use CR as a backdoor entry into commercial radio? Could we have a cap on the percentage of commercial music that CR stations play every day? Before we place an order for more CD racks, let's assume that -- even as I write this -- the bully boys of PPL / IPRS and that embodiment of copyright virtue, T-Series, are busy filing an appeal against the Copyright Board recommendations in the nearest High Court. Sajan - *Copyright Board goes for revenue share solution on radio-music industry royalty issue* 26 Aug 2010, Radioandmusic.com MUMBAI: They have been sparring for a couple of years, waiting for the referee to reach a decision. Today, the Copyright Board reportedly announced that it had recommended that the royalty payable by FM radio stations to the Indian Music industry would be a share of 2 per cent of net advertising revenues, a departure from the current practice. Currently, the arrangement is that FM radio stations pay music labels on a per hourly basis for music played out on air. This is fixed at Rs 850 per hour irrespective of the geographical region. Of this, Rs 660 per needle hour is collected by the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL). The government had fixed the tariff in 2001 with no rate revision since then. The FM radio broadcasters coughed out Rs 1.2 billion, or 18 per cent of their net ad revenues, as music royalty in FY'10, according to industry estimates. A two per cent share, as the Copyright Board has directed now, would mean the music companies would have taken away just Rs 140 million in FY'10. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had given the Copyright Board four months to resolve the music royalty spat. It had asked both the radio and the music fraternity to file evidences supporting their stand on the royalty issue. Experts from the industry believe that the order is skewed in favour of radio and the FM industry is not complaining. Says a radio industry insider, The move will definitely be welcomed by the radio industry. It is an encouragement and will push it to the next level. especially since phase III is on the anvil. Big FM business head Soumen Ghosh Choudhury said, We haven’t received any official communiqué on this from the Copyright Board as yet and hence need to understand it clearer. But prima facie it does seem like a very positive move. Music royalties have been an issue for a while now and this is sure to bring US some respite. If the music royalty issue is really sorted out, it will further fuel phase III growth for FM and allow broadcasters to deepen their footprint while offering advertisers greater reach. BAG Films and Media CMD Anurradha Prasad: The music royalty cost used to be a huge drain. A two per cent revenue share will actually be a big help for radio broadcasters in smaller towns who were burdened with a heavy payout to music companies. Music labels refused to comment on the new settlement since they still hadn't received the order from the Copyright Board. Talking to Radioandmusic.com South music label Inreco's director SL Saha said, Since we haven't received the order we are not in a situation to comment. But prima facie we are not too happy with the settlement. Keep watching this space for further developments.
[cr-india] status of CR in India
The IB Ministry has shared with us the latest (25 Aug 2010) figures for Community Radio in India: 1. *Letters of Intent issued: **233* 2. *Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPAs) signed: **110* 3. *Operational CR Stations: **82* - * Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) - 19* - * Educational Institutions + Universities - 55* - * State agriculture Universities - 05* - * Krishi Vigyan Kendras - 03* Sajan Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Community Radios connected by satellite network in Nepal
COMMUNITY RADIOS CONNECTED BY SATELLITE NETWORK IN NEPAL http://www.amicaltmedia.net/research.php?pid=31 Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB) has launched Community Information Network (CIN) connecting 105 community radios of Nepal into a single satellite network on 29 th of May 2009, providing a platform for information sharing. The Network will allow the stations to receive news and information from the studios of ACORAB as well as to share information among the stations. Most of Nepal’s community radios are located in remote areas of the country and hence the options for receiving and sharing of information are few and limited. Internet connectivity is not widespread. Most stations are dependent on dial-up based low speed connectivity. Sharing of content among the stations has been mostly based on exchanging of audio CDs. However, given the regular road blockades pertaining to natural as well as human-made reasons, delivery of CDs has been inefficient. The satellite network is expected to help the stations overcome these challenges. Through CIN, community radios will be able to share their radio programs and voice clips with other stations in the network. ACORAB has set up a recording studio along with a small but a professional news production team in Kathmandu. It will dispatch news twice, everyday. Participating stations will also receive the news in text to allow them to repackage and localize. In the next phase, member community radios and ACORAB will work together to produce programs in Kathmandu on the basis of information and content received from the stations. This way, CIN will help to centralize local issues and localize central issues. The CIN will function in close collaboration with community radios. It will focus on encouraging critical dialogues from local perspective on various current issues such as national identity, democracy, human rights, good-governance, social-cohesion, socialinclusion and social-justice, peace-building, constitution making process, development and other socio-political issues. In order to ensure a high level of participation of the community radio stations and as part of the CIN plans, ACORAB will work to enhance the capacity of radios by organizing internship opportunities for the staffs of the stations. During internship, local producers and reporters will get change to hone up their skills and knowledge for news and program production. ACORAB will soon begin to broadcast live, the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly where assembly members are working to write the new constitution of Nepal. The broadcast is expected to increase the level of accountability of the legislators towards their constituencies and local communities. The broadcast will also feed into content creation to enhance dialogue between the policy makers and members of their constituency, with the aim of providing input to the constitution making process. Source: AMARC-AP Newsletter June 2009 Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] number of active CR stations
It was reported earlier this month that 71 community radio stations were operational in India. The ministry has just confirmed that the number has now gone up to 82, as we were able to track down many GOPA holders whose broadcast status was hitherto unknown. We should have 100 CR stations on air by the end of this year, which is admittedly a far cry from the 4000 stations the Minister says will be on air by 2012http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/fm-phase-iii-finalisation-soon-ambika-soni, but it's a good beginning. It's a pity that some GOPA and LoI holders are planning to surrender their licenses. I wonder why they went to all that trouble in the first place. Sajan *71 community radio stations operational in India* http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k10/aug/aug60.php 7 August 2010 NEW DELHI: Although letters of intent have been issued to 233 applicants and grant of permission signed with 102, only 71 community radio stations (CRS) are presently functioning in the country. This is a marginal increase over the 57 channels functional by March. A total of 727 applications have been received by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, of which 264 were from educational institutions. A total of 105 applications were rejected while 389 were under process. Of the operational channels, 52 are educational institutions, 15 are non-governmental organizations, three are Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and one is a State-level Agricultural University. Tamil Nadu leads the country with 13 CRS, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 9, Maharashtra with 7, Karnataka with six and Delhi with five. Sixteen other states have one to four CRS each. Meanwhile, Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that there was no proposal at present to give financial assistance to educational institutions to set up community radio stations. Apparently waiting for the Phase III scheme of the government, no new private FM radio station has been launched and the number of private FM remains at 248. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
Re: [cr-india] IB seeks status info from community radio applicants
On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 4:00 PM, Vickram Crishna v1cl...@yahoo.co.ukwrote: You would not be surprised to know that a few years ago, listmembers here were actually faced with the exact same situation, required to respond to a questionnaire that had not been circulated, in advance of a forthcoming consultation. *Rachel*: Why didn’t I get that message? *Ross*: What? *Rachel*: From the guy in the bar, why didn’t I get that message? *Ross*: Because I folded it up and put in my pants pocket. Do you...do you not look there? *From 'Friends' - Season 9, Ep. 913* Dear Vickram, Both the notices -- to those who have signed GOPA and to Letter of Indent (well, that's what it says) holders -- are available on the Ministry's website. Do you not look there? http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/crs/crs_notice1.pdf http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/crs/crs_notice2.pdf Sajan The good news was those that responded anyway were invited to the consultation, the bad news being that the consultation was a washout, if the current policy is any indication. Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com *From:* Dr Richie Rego SJ richie...@yahoo.com *To:* Vickram Crishna v1cl...@yahoo.co.uk; Sajan Venniyoor CR Forum venniy...@gmail.com; Ram Bhat, CR r...@maraa.in *Cc:* CR Forum cr-india@sarai.net *Sent:* Mon, 28 June, 2010 14:24:16 *Subject:* Re: [cr-india] IB seeks status info from community radio applicants Dear Sajan, Vickram, Ram, It is interesting to know how these IB letters are circulated. The deadline to submit info on our CRs is 30 June. Till date, I have not received any information. I am still in Delhi! My staff says there is no information from the Ministry! All I know is from you people that they have asked for something. Now, without knowing what exactly they want from us, which format, etc, how do I furnish this information. How to furnish this information which is not asked of me? Any ideas? Rev Dr Richard Rego SJ Director, SARANG SAC 107.8FM Community Radio Head Asst Prof., MCMS Dept of Mass Communication St Aloysius College; P.B. 720 Mangalore - 575003. www.richardrego.wordpress.com www.staloysiuscollege.wordpress.com 0824-2449706. +919448546425. -- *From:* Vickram Crishna v1cl...@yahoo.co.uk *To:* CR India cr-india@sarai.net *Sent:* Sat, 26 June, 2010 14:04:27 *Subject:* Re: [cr-india] IB seeks status info from community radio applicants When do you suppose these letters were sent? Today is Saturday, June 26. Have the stations had enough time to receive, fill in, and return to Delhi each and every letter for the purpose 'of updating its [the Ministry's] database'? Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com *From:* sajan venniyoor venniy...@gmail.com *To:* CR India cr-india@sarai.net *Sent:* Sat, 26 June, 2010 12:02:57 *Subject:* [cr-india] IB seeks status info from community radio applicants IB seeks status info from community radio applicants By: RnM Team, 23 Jun 10 http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/ib-seeks-status-info-community-radio-applicants NEW DELHI: All applicants who have signed Grant of Permission Agreement (GoPA) or received letters of intent (LoI) for setting up Community Radio Stations have been asked to furnish up-to-date information on their status. In separate notices issues to those who have signed GoPA or received LoI, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said they must furnish information relating to name of applicant, location of the station, date of GoPA or LoI respectively, date of application to WPC Wing, date of receipt of frequency allocation, and date of commission of station (as applicable). The applicants have been asked to furnish these details by 30 June to help the Ministry in the process of updating its data base. NEW DELHI: All applicants who have signed Grant of Permission Agreement (GoPA) or received letters of intent (LoI) for setting up Community Radio Stations have been asked to furnish up-to-date information on their status. In separate notices issues to those who have signed GoPA or received LoI, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said they must furnish information relating to name of applicant, location of the station, date of GoPA or LoI respectively, date of application to WPC Wing, date of receipt of frequency allocation, and date of commission of station (as applicable). The applicants have been asked to furnish these details by 30 June to help the Ministry in the process of updating its data base. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] FCC Commissioner Suggests Using TV Channels for Community Radio
*FCC's Mignon Clyburn Suggests Using TV Channels 5 And 6 For Radio* June 11, 2010; www.allaccess.com FCC Commissioner MIGNON CLYBURN told the 35th annual Community Radio Conference in ST. PAUL THURSDAY (6/10) that the Commission should consider reallocating TV channels 5 and 6 for use by LPFM, noncommercial, and AM radio broadcasters. [...] CLYBURN said that she she is optimistic about the prospects of Congress passing the Local Community Radio Act to ease interference standards and allow more low power FMs. If the law passes, CLYBURN said, we could realize a unique opportunity to license a great number -- many hundreds -- of new low powered community- oriented radio stations. The House passed the law in DECEMBER; a companion version is pending a vote by the full Senate. CLYBURN also touted the opportunities for community radio offered by the Internet and HD RADIO multicasting, noting that we have imposed virtually no limits on the use of HD-2 and HD-3 channels. And the FCC's Media Bureau routinely permits FM translators to rebroadcast these channels. No prior staff approval is required. [*To read the full article, go to* http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/76545/fcc-s-mignon-clyburn-suggests-using-tv-channels-5- ] Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Opportunity for Community Radios in South Asia to Participate in Internet Broadcasting Workshop
[from Kishor Pradhan, Panos South Asia] * Opportunity for Community Radios in South Asia to Participate in Internet Broadcasting Workshop* In the past few years in South Asian countries there have been a remarkable progress in the development of community radios. Liberalization of broadcast policies by the states and formulation of community radio policies in South Asian countries like Bangladesh and India have led to the establishment of remarkable number of community radios in these countries. Opening up of the community radios in South Asia has definitely provided the opportunities for the marginalized communities to voice for themselves and have given voice to the voiceless. Amongst the opportunities there however are challenges, amongst others, like raising the voice of the communities at much higher levels. How the voices of communities raised by the community radios can be raised at the national, regional and international levels? The opportunity for this lies in the application of new media technologies for Internet broadcasting. The community radios by having the capacity on Internet broadcasting can raise their voice beyond the community level to the national, regional and international levels. To address the need for the community radios to build their capacity to raise their voice beyond the community level, Panos South Asia is organizing a five-day workshop exclusively for community radios in South Asia titled 'Internet Broadcasting for Community Radios in South Asia' at its Media Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal from 13 - 17 September 2010. The five-day workshop shall orient the community radios on the concept and applications of Internet broadcasting, and hands-on on actually creating Internet radio or broadcasting. It will also be an opportunity for community radio practitioners in South Asia to network and share knowledge. Community radios from only South Asian countries who are interested to attend this workshop may apply by filling out the attached application form and submitting it by e-mail to mailto:p...@panosradiosouthasia.org p...@panosradiosouthasia.org by 15 July 2010. All the costs for attending the workshop shall be covered by Panos South Asia. ONLY selected applicants who meet the criteria for participating in the workshop shall be informed about the outcome of their applications by 10 August 2010. *** Internet Broadcasting for Community Radios in South Asia Workshop Application Form Name of the Community Radio Year of establishment Country Complete address Telephone/Fax E-mail Website (if any) Name of the applicant (person applying for the workshop) Designation of the applicant Responsibility of the applicant in the community radio concerned Technical/computer skills of the applicant E-mail of the applicant (person) How many hours a day does your community radio broadcast? And what is the nature of the content of your community radio? (briefly) What is the current technical capacity (in terms of computers, digital recording, editing, Internet capacity) of the community radio you are associated with? How will the workshop help your community radio to further raise the voice of the communities? Endorsement by the Station Manager/Senior Management of the Community Radio Station (Date, Signature and Designation) Note: Completely filled out application form should be sent by e-mail to mailto:p...@panosradiosouthasia.org p...@panosradiosouthasia.org by 15 July 2010. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] WPC allots 90.8 FM to Mumbai CR Jago Mumbai
*WPC allots 90.8 FM to Mumbai CR Jago Mumbai* Anita Iyer, Radioandmusic.com, 10 Jun 10, http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/wpc-allots-908-fm-mumbai-cr-jago-mumbai MUMBAI: Bandra based community radio Jago Mumbai can now heave a sigh of relief as The Wireless planning and coordination (WPC) wing of the Ministry of Communications allotted fresh frequency of 90.8 FM to the station. The Union Park Residents Association's (UPRA) community radio station had approached the WPC for allotment of new frequency after it was assigned 107.8 FM earlier. Broadcasting on this frequency has hampered the transmission of already existing community radio – Must FM run by the Mumbai University. Officials at WPC confirmed that a changed frequency of 90.8 FM has been allotted to Jago Mumbai and Must FM would continue to broadcast from 107.8 FM. Comments Jago Mumbai chairman Naveen Chandra, “Although we are still awaiting an official communication from the WPC wing of ministry, we have been informed that 90.8 FM has been allotted for Jago Mumbai.” The changed frequency has caused inconvenience for the community radio, states Chandra. “We have to make adjustments in our transmission which comes with a cost. Soon after we receive the fresh frequency, we would hit the airwaves.” Must FM transmission executive Pankaj Athavale insists that Jago Mumbai continues to broadcast on their frequency- 107.8 FM as a formal communication hasn’t been received yet. “This disturbs our transmission as listeners tuned on to Must FM are directed to Jago Mumbai programmes.” In the meantime, Jago Mumbai is gearing up to add on their hours of broadcast from the current four hours. “We have been operating in a confined manner because of transmission disturbance issues but would now increase the duration of our broadcasts.” Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] India to expand community radio programme
*India to expand community radio programme* The move will connect rural hinterland with the national mainstream 04/13/2010, http://igovernment.in/site/india-expand-community-radio-programme-37343 New Delhi: The Government of India has decided to expand its Community Radio station (CRS) programme to all states. It is aimed at connecting the rural hinterland with the national mainstream, an official in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said. During the current fiscal, the community radio network will focus on covering states like Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, which have remained untapped so far. An amount of Rs 3.25 crore has been sanctioned for the entire Plan (2007-2012) period for information education and communication for CRS. “In 2007, the network had focussed on a few regions. In 2009-10 we started covering some states, and by the end of this fiscal, we aim to cover all states including ones like Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, which have not been touched so far, the official said. Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] List of active CR stations in India
Dear all, Many of you would know Jose Jacob, Radio Amateur and veteran DXer, by reputation. Jose has just completed 25 years in Amateur Radio (congratulations!) He has put together a list of active CR stations in India, something which we have been unable to source even from the Ministry of Information Broadcasting. Thanks a million, Jose. The list is available here: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/fm/cr.htm http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/fm/cr.htmAs Jose says, any updates/corrections/feedback/comments from you on this would be greatly appreciated. Sajan -- Forwarded message -- From: VU2JOS vu2...@gmail.com Date: Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 10:01 PM Subject: List of active CR stations in India Please see the list of active CR stations in India compiled by me in http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/fm/cr.htm Any updates/corrections/feedback/comments from you on this is very much appreciated. I think that I have included some inactive stations in it unknowingly, please let me know. I was searching for any such list but finally ended up making one! Yours sincerely Jose Jacob National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road Hyderabad 500082, India Cell: + 91 94416 96043 Telefax:+ 91 40 2331 0287 Tel: + 91 40 6516 7388 www.niar.org Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] TERI launches Kumaon Vani community radio in Uttarakhand
TERI launches Kumaon Vani community radio service in Uttarakhand http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/03/teri-launches-kumaon-vani-community-radio-service-uttarakhand.html Kumaon (Uttarakhand), Mar 13 : Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva on Saturday inaugurated the first community radio of the state, the ‘Kumaon Vani.’ The community radio centre which will air at the frequency of 90.4 MHz has been set up by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in the Kumaon valley. Over 2,000 villages in the remote areas of this Himalayan state would be benefited from the launching of Kumaon Vani, the radio service which can now be heard within 20 kilometers from the TERI centre. Alva, on this occasion, said the community radio would prove to be an effective medium of communication for the people of the region to voice their concerns. “The biggest thing is that the “Kumaon Vani” will run from the local community. The villagers will make the programmes, decide its content and air it. This radio will provide a platform for the local people to bring forth their issues and opinions and get a medium of discussion,” Alva said. The ‘Kumaon Vani’ would air programmes on environment, agriculture, culture, weather and education in the local language and with the active participation of the locals.nnapurna, the Director of TERI in Nainital, said because the Kumaon region is disaster-prone, the community radio would act as an effective messenger and informer in times of crisis. “As the area of Kumaon is disaster-prone, (and) the climatic weather conditions are very diverse from extreme heat to cold, a technology like radio will be of great use in the area,” Annapurna said. The main occupation of the people of Kumaon is agriculture and thus a community radio is hoped to serve as an effective informer for farmers and will help them to gain knowledge from experts. “In our programs we will take up questions from the community people, related to their problems and queries they want answers to. With the help of experts, like agriculturists, we will try and solve the problems of the people through our community radio,” said Tulsi Mehta, program coordinator of Kumaon Vani. Mehta further said that through this radio station they would endeavor to preserve the diminishing culture and heritage of Kumaon valley. By Ashish Goyal (ANI) -- Uttarakhand gets first community radio By: RadioandMusic.com, 12 Mar 10 MUMBAI: Uttarakhand's first community radio which will cater to 15 villages was today inauguarted by Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva. The 'Kumaon Vani', which has been set up by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) will benfit nearly 2000 villagers, according to agency report. Alva said the community radio would prove to be effective medium of communication for the people of Uttarakhand and also play an important role in women empowerment. Speaking to radioandmusic.com last year Tulsi Mehta, who has enrolled as a reporter for the station had stated enthusiastically, “In the initial stages, we had issues with gathering people and making them understand the concept of community radio. Later on, it became a platform for singers and experts in agriculture, career options, women's issues to connect with the population.” Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
Re: [cr-india] Cellphone-based community radio
On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Gora Mohanty g...@sarai.net wrote: Auroville Radio is doing just speech, right? I really do not think that music will work on a GPRS connection, but do you have any plans of trying? Auroville Radio streams a fair amount of music, I believe. At least, I have listened to some excellent classical music on one of their two channels (though not on my mobile). I have also listened to music channels on GPRS via mobile apps like Mundu Radio, and the experience hasn't been too bad. Maybe I have a tin ear. Another thought: If streaming speech over GPRS is working well, it ought to be possible to send similar audio back to the radio station. Thus, one could have a live radio chat, or something like citizen journalism. Well, there *is* something called voice telephony, and it's been around for a while... Radio stations routinely do live chats (phone-ins, phone-outs) and I don't think data streaming is really needed for basic stuff like that. The great advantages of streaming radio over GPRS is that (1) it gets around the Kafka-in-Pandemonium world of radio regulation in India and (2) the signal goes a hell of a long way compared to FM radio. I am not sure, though, if there are any inherent advantages in using skype-over-mobile or similar applications in favour of normal voice calls for routine phone-ins or field reports. Sajan Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] Radio Asia 2010: Community radio dissected
Radio Asia 2010: Community radio dissected Nitin Pandey, 24 Feb 2010, exchange4media http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/radio/radionews.asp?Section_id=7News_id=37336Tag=2648 Day Two of Radio Asia 2010 delved upon the various dimensions of the radio industry, including community radio – the opportunities and challenges for community radio in India and the different models are being used all over the world. Use of rapid response radio, which can help during the time of disasters, was also a point of interest during the discussions. The session was moderated by Louie Tabing, Tambuli Community Radio, the Philippines. Commenting on the Indian community radio scenario, R Sreedher, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, said, “In the 80s, for the first time science and knowledge-based programmes started in the country through various local radio stations of All India Radio (AIR). The birth of Gyan Vani put forward the concept of the educational radio, although Gyan Vani had shown a slow rise. Today, AIR has got enough local radio stations, but with time they are dying. There are over 750 applications for community radio stations and only 51 stations are operational. Among them, 43 are run by educational institutions and eight by NGOs. The target is to have 4,000 such community radio stations.” Talking about the reasons of slow growth of community radio in India, Sreedher noted that there could be various reasons behind the slow growth, and a primary reason was that it took a long time to get a license for this. “Also, there is no viable model available for community radio stations. Community radio requires authentic radio ratings measurement, and a strong exit policy can help in the growth of the community radio,” he noted. To highlight further on Indian community radio development, Ishwar Singh Mehla, Director, BECIL, India, said, “Community radio can be for a limited area and community only. The most important thing for a community radio is relevant and informative programmes. The right of owning a community radio station was given to educational institutions in 2002, but in the year 2006, it was extended to NGOs and non-profit organisations. Community radio operates in a radius of 5-10 km only. Advertisement of local events and banners can be the source of revenue for community radio.” On how radio could help during times of disasters, Mike Adams, Rapid Response Radio Unit, UK, said, “The tsunami changed my life a few years back. I realised the role of radio during such a difficult time. During the time of such a disaster, radio can help the survivors by spreading information regarding shelter, food, medicine or any other help. Rapid Response Radio Unit, which carries its radio station in two suitcases, serves the affected community. Ideally, any such radio station should start functioning within 72 hours, but for that we need to be well prepared before any disaster.” Kalinga Seneviratne, AMIC, Singapore, described his country’s progress in the community radio domain. He stated, “In the past one decade, we have seen 25 per cent increase in radio stations. Most of the community radios are operating on low power and without license. In some provinces, the local government runs community radio models. There are mostly three community radio models – Tambuli, totally driven by volunteers; Catholic Media Networks, Genpeace (which stands for gender and culture of peace); and Radyo Natin, the largest network of community radio stations in the Philippines.” Citing an example of community radio programming content, P Pavitharan, Kothmale Community Radio, Sri Lanka, said, “In our state, we ask the community to decide on all the programmes that they want to listen. Community radio should be interactive and the radio mike should go to the community only.” Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
[cr-india] 'Hello, Gurgaon! City’s other h alf speaking' (press story on 'Gurgaon ki A waaz' CRS)
*Hello, Gurgaon! City’s other half speaking* Sanjeev K Ahuja, Hindustan Times, 11 Feb 2010 http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/haryana/Hello-Gurgaon-City-s-other-half-speaking/Article1-507525.aspx Amrit Beriwal, 23, had little hope of getting an employment till recently. A school dropout from Sarai Alalwardi village near New Palam Vihar in Gurgaon, Haryana, he had been wandering no regular income till he joined Gurgaon’s local FM radio station. Now, he works as a reporter with the radio station and is all set to get married on February 16. “My parents are happy that I work with a radio station and do all sorts of jobs that a professional reporters do,” said Beriwal. Gurgaon ki Awaaz is that and much more for the people of Gurgaon who went unheard till now. At 107.8 MHz, the low-cost round the clock FM radio station broadcasts folk songs, bhajans, group chats and other programmes recorded on field or at the studio by the local folks. For people like Beriwal — women, school dropouts, college students and folk artists —it is an opportunity to earn fame and identity. Sharmila Devi, an associate with St. Stephen’s Hospital, was unheard of till last November. The wife of a farmer and mother of three children, she now knows editing and recording and has walked from one village to another village to reach the underprivileged women and children. She interviews village people, musicians and women and records cultural programmes for the radio. The station is being supported by The Restoring Force (TRF), an NGO that works in government schools of Gurgaon district in the area of infrastructure enhancement and career counseling. “We are into round-the-clock broadcasting to a community that has remained voiceless throughout the transformation of Gurgaon from a sleepy cluster of villages 20 years ago to Millennium City,” said Arti Jaiman, the project manager of TRF. “It is the only civil society-led community radio station in the National Capital Region and provides a platform to the marginalised, especially communities living in villages for whom the gloss and glamour of malls and glass-fronted office buildings is simply a testament of the uneven development that has taken place in this town,” said Jaiman. The radio station is run in a two room station-cum-studio. The walls of the studio are covered with egg-trays to make them echo-proof. It covers villages in 12 km of radius. Brij Mohan Vaish, founder-president of TRF, said: “The community radio takes our career counselling initiatives to thousands of children whom we cannot reach otherwise.” “The radio promises to be a powerful medium for the local community to voice its own needs and desires, and raise questions about issues that most affect their lives.” “If TRF can achieve this, then I would consider our community radio project a success,” he said. The Community Radio Forum's Annual Meeting will be held in Bangalore on 19 February 2010.
[cr-india] REMINDER: CR Forum 4th Annual Meet-19 Feb, 2010, Bangalore
For those of you who haven't signed up for the 4th AGM of the CR Forum (and 2nd Regional Conference of AMARC Asia Pacific) yet, here's a reminder. Please block the dates and book your tickets as early as possible. warm regards, and best wishes for the new year, Sajan *4th Annual General Meeting of CRF – 19th Feb, 2010 - Bangalore * Dear CR enthusiasts, On behalf of the Community Radio Forum of India (CRF *http://www.crforum.in* *)*, I am pleased to inform all members that the 4th Annual General Meeting of the Forum will be held on *February 19, 2010* in *Bangalore*. This meeting will be held in conjunction with the 2nd Regional Conference of AMARC Asia Pacific scheduled to be held in Bangalore from February 20-23, 2010. The theme of the conference is “Community Radio for Sustainable Development and Good Governance”. The agenda for the CRF meeting will be: a) to conduct organizational elections and put in place a new executive committee; and b) to have an open meeting, with members and other CR practitioners, advocates and enthusiasts in order to take stock of the community radio movement in India and share experiences of those already on air. The first part of the meeting mentioned as (a) above will be open for registered members of CRF only, however the second part of the meeting is open to all. The CRF meeting as well as the AMARC conference will be held at The United Theological College, 63, Millers Road, Benson Town, BANGALORE - 560046. We encourage all of you to attend the CRF meeting and register for the AMARC conference. Please make your travel plans at the earliest so that you don’t miss this important meeting of CRF and an opportunity to interact with others in the region. Visit *http://www.crforum.in* for details on CRF and * http://asiapacific.amarc.org* for more details on AMARC conference. Meanwhile, we would like to request specific suggestions on the agenda for the CRF meeting mentioned above. In addition, please review the draft agenda of the AMARC conference and share any ideas you may have for scheduling some sessions in which India participants could play a meaningful role at least on the first two days. This suggestion is being made on the assumption that, although members are welcome to stay on for the full conference of AMARC, most of us may not be able to stay in Bangalore for more than two or three days. *Please send your ideas and suggestions on the agenda to Dr Vinod Pavarala on this list as well as cc it to vpavar...@gmail.com * We will be happy to share further details with you as soon as they become available. Hope to see you all in Bangalore. Warm regards, Stalin K. -- Stalin K. National Convener Community Radio Forum of India Phone: +91-832-2281032 Mobile: +91-9923594635 *http://www.crforum.in** * PLEASE JOIN THE COMMUNITY RADIO FORUM. MEMBERSHIP DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE AT http://www.crforum.in/membership
[cr-india] Radioing friends over airwaves - Sangham Radio
'Sangham Radio', India's first community radio station, celebrated its first anniversary on 15 October, 2009. For those of us who were unable to share the moment with General, Algole, Satheesh and the women of Pastapur, here's a report from today's Deccan Herald. *Radioing friends over airwaves* R Akhileshwari, Deccan Herald, 1 Nov 2009 The amphitheatre in Machnoor village of Zaheerabad mandal in Medak district was recently buzzing with women who had turned out in their finery: wearing brightly coloured, inexpensive but new sarees and their traditional necklace of 'gundlu' and ear-rings called 'genteelu' with flowers in their hair, the women of nearby villages turned out for an occasion that was as historic as their own. Their 'Sangam Radio' had turned all of one year. Sangam Radio is India's first community radio, entirely owned and run by members of women's groups or Sangams as they are known. These Sangams are supported by the Deccan Development Society that has been working for the poorest, landless, Dalit women of Zaheerabad for the past 25 years helping them reclaim their lives from the relentless forces of globalisation. This was achieved through regaining their control over food production, seeds, natural resources and management, the market and finally over the media. Setting up the community radio was part of the efforts to shake off the grip of a centralised media that alienates the communities from their own roots that lie in their culture, traditions and language. Most importantly, the radio became the voice of the community as it highlights problems which afflict their crops, livestock and families as also the solutions that are thrashed out on air and solutions shared. As Bidekanne Sammamma said: “Our radio is our friend. When we come home after a day's hard work our minds are full of problems we switch on our radio and are revived..with the radio by my side I feel my dost is there at home,’’ she said. Sangam Radio had its beginnings in the idea that the media should be an expression of the community, articulated in its own language unique to the region; that it should be a mirror of their identities and traditions; that it should be a platform for day-to-day problems and issues of their lives and livelihoods; it should be an outlet of their joys and woes, of their creativity, of their music and songs, of their crops and food. The idea was to reaffirm their strengths rather than be swamped by an alien media propagating an alien culture. It was to take pride in them rather than be persuaded by a media that they were somehow lesser beings for being themselves. Sangam Radio started in 1998 with UNESCO's help. Half a dozen women from Dalit, poor, landless families were trained in all aspects of radio programming. They produced a few hundred hours of programming and since the stiff rules of broadcasting would not be relaxed, Sangam Radio 'narrowcast' their programmes, playing the tapes in the weekly meetings of the Sangam. However following the revolutionary judgement of Justice P B Sawant in the Supreme Court that airwaves were public property, Sangam Radio went on air on October 15, 2008. It is on air daily between 7 and 9 pm. The programme content is a mix of interviews, discussions, songs, folk tales and plays. According to a study, 80 per cent of the participants are women and Dalits. Elders are particularly encouraged to participate as they are seen as valuable repositories of knowledge. Sangam Radio has discarded the traditional top-down development approach and focuses on creating awareness in the community, based on the premise that critical information will trickle down and they will absorb information important to them. Instead the participatory approach has been adopted where the community makes the decisions about what is important to their lives. Importantly, the community owns the radio. Out of the 5000 women members of the Sangam (that are active in about 75 villages), at least 2000 are 'active' members, each contributing Rs 5 per month which takes care of the expenses of the radio station and its staff. Thus, the community ensures that the radio like the mainstream media does not depend on advertising which comes with its own set of strings attached. This model of community shareholding is unique in the country and which apart from financial sustainability, ensures social sustainability with a strong sense of ownership and identification of the community with the Radio. Another unique feature of the Sangam radio station is that the community members are not mere listeners but active participants. The radio station keeps its doors open for people to come and record their talk, songs or share their problems or knowledge. This promotes not just informality but a sense of belonging like we don't need to take an appointment to get into our home! People from different villages are encouraged to visit the station once a month to take part in various programmes. Sangam
Re: [cr-india] PIRATE RADIO: Movie Trailer
Dear Fred, Thanks for the link. The film was first released in the UK as 'The Boat that Rocked http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131729/releaseinfo', and is loosely based on that 1960s phenomenon, Radio Caroline. I believe the movie can be downloaded as a torrent (though, of course, I do not endorse piracy). Incidentally, there is a full length documentary titled 'Pirate Radio USA' (2006), but I couldn't find it online. warm regards, Sajan On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 4:42 AM, Frederick Noronha fredericknoro...@gmail.com wrote: PIRATE RADIO: Movie Trailer http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#2Mwb7Q/www.metacafe.com/watch/3451337/pirate_radio_movie_trailer// -- Frederick Noronha :: +91-832-2409490 Writing, editing, alt.publishing, photography, journalism Goa,1556: http://goa1556.goa-india.org ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] ‘Community radio needs more support ’
‘Community radio needs more support’Business Line, 19 Sept 2009 Madurai, Sept. 18 Community radio broadcasting in India needs an enabling environment, according to Mr Ashish Sen, Vice-President, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. Community Radio has proven itself in disaster management in several parts of the world. In India, there is an urgent need to establish such a network to tackle disaster preparedness and mitigation, and the Government should create an enabling environment for this, he told *Business Line*. It is less than two-and-half years since the applications for grassroot non-government organsisations (NGOs) were operationalised. However, till date, less than 50 stations are on air among which only five stations are operated by the NGOs. Of these two are in Tamil Nadu and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The rest are operated by educational institutions, he said. The broadcast spectrum in the country has the potential for 5,000 stations of 50 Watt capacity each. The licensing process is stifling the growth prospects. There is a need to have separate policies for educational institutions and NGOs, he said. The broadcasters need seed money for the purchase of equipment and for capacity building. One of the suggestions has been setting apart one per cent of the profit of private broadcasters, he said. Mr Ashish Sen was in the city to present a lead paper at s workshop on ‘Community Radio for Change’ held as part of the ‘Madurai Symposium 2009’, organised by DHAN Foundation. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/09/19/stories/2009091950731700.htm ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Govt to set up community radio station at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu
Govt to set up community radio station at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu September 18, 09, exchange4media The Ministry of Information Broadcasting has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement with PGP Educational Welfare Society for establishing, maintaining and operating a community radio station (CRS) at Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu. A Letter of Intent had been issued to the organisation after recommendations of an Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The community radio station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRSes will increase to 53 in the country. The PGP Community Radio will be functioning with the objectives to disseminate useful socio-economic information, legal and other scheme available to the public, eradication of social evils, latest development in agriculture, animal husbandry and poultry for general public in the area. The ministry is said to encourage setting up of the community radio stations as CRSes promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly importance of education. http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory_industrybrief.asp?section_id=35news_id=35928tag=31798 ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Why isn’t India investing in commun ity radio...?
[Thanks to George Lessard for this link] Tuning into complacency Why isn’t India investing in community radio, which is crucial to save lives in times of natural disasters Ashish Sen Bangalore Mirror, September 16, 2009 As drought, earthquakes and floods threaten the global landscape, I’m reminded about the two buzz words that increasingly make waves: climate change. Two weeks ago, West Java was rocked by an earthquake that was 7.2 on the Richter scale. A few months ago Cyclone Alia had inundated and cut off some of Bangladesh’s mangrove forests and islands in the Bay of Bengal. While the magnitude of these “natural” disasters vary, their frequency has not only set off alarm bells but emphasised that it's time to smell the coffee and go back to the future. No, I’m not referring to Kalyug, Biblical or Nostradamus like predictions (although the events would certainly underline the writing if not the relevance of all three) - but something far more plebian like community radio. A choice between drought and earthquake is akin to a choice between a rock and a hard place. Neither is desirable. But as the perils of climate change hit the headlines with alarming regularity, we are also reminded about the costs of technology that are required to rein in the damage. But are these costs and technologies the only options? Not so – as a recent UNESCO global consultation sharply brought into focus. In fact, as the President of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Steve Buckley pointed out, media’s role during these times of crisis is not just about getting the message across. It is about people taking a lead in getting their voices heard and strengthening accountability linkages between government and citizenry. What is more, these media are both accessible and affordable and demonstrate that they are for all seasons – not just in times of recession. The proof of the pudding lies in the eating – and as Buckley’s data affirmed - there is no dearth of examples that showcase how community media is quietly, albeit consistently, making a difference. “In Northern Quebec, Inuit communication networks are providing advice on safety as hunting routes across sea ice become increasingly precarious. In Mali, rural community radio stations are working to assist farmers adapt to changing seasonal patterns in order to maintain and increase their harvest. In Bangladesh, coastal NGOs are building community radio stations and other communication tools to provide systems for early warning and disaster management in the face of floods and inundations that result from rising sea levels.” Sometimes, the disaster itself propels governments to encourage people to build their own communication systems for disaster preparedness and mitigation – as in the case of Senegal post the 2004 locust invasion. However, these seem to be the exception. Remember, August 2008 when the River Kosi changed its course and wreaked havoc on areas around the Indo-Nepal border? Despite efforts, “mum” was the word as far as emergency radio was concerned. Six months later a field visit to the area confirmed that substantial areas remained outside the long arm of relief. Areas like Lachmeenya, Sathanpatti and Raghavpoor continued to comprise hearts of darkness as electricity remained elusive for the most part. In contrast, the Aceh Radio reconstruction Network (ARRnet) that came up post the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia demonstrated the power of a community media network. Ultimately comprising a network of 46 community radio stations, it addressed not only emergency, but reconstruction and rehabilitation. Over the years, the network helped to also build community life and also engaged local governments in their activities. Community practitioners in West Java are now exploring a similar initiative. Similarly, the Dalit women of Pastapur who run India’s first community radio station have emphasised the importance of “samma” and “sajja” (marginalised varieties of grain) and showcased the co-relation between voice and food security. In early 2005, Naveen Chawla who was then Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Government of India, observed that if the country had community radio the scale of the Tsunami disaster would have been much less. Four years later, and about two and a half years after community radio became a reality in India, less than a sprinkling of community radio stations dot the Indian landscape. Why? It’s much more than demand and supply. It’s about not realising the writing on the wall. So, when will we wake up and smell the coffee? (Ashish Sen is a journalist, theatre-person and a trustee of VOICES, a development communications organisation) Source: Bangalore Mirror http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=articlesectid=36contentid=2 0090916200909161612358599a8bf791 ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Sarang CR, Mangalore, to launch on September 23
Radio station for a noble cause Nagesh Prabhu, The Hindu, 14 Sept 2009 BANGALORE: St. Aloysius College in Mangalore will launch a community radio service on September 23. Sarang with frequency of 107.8 MHz will broadcast programmes in Konkani, Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, English languages (sometimes in Beary language too) on various development programmes for the benefit of farmers, fishermen, employees, college students and daily wage workers. Richard Rego, Director of Sarang FM Community Radio and Head of the Department of Mass Communication, St. Aloysius College, told The Hinduon Sunday that to begin with, the station would broadcast programmes for eight hours a day for listeners within a radius of 60 km. *Liaison* The college had a state-of-the art studio and decided to have regular liaison with local communities, anganwadi centres, non-governmental organisations and professionals, he said. Fr. Rego said: “We envisioned to partner with the government in the process of development. We look for active participation of local communities in content production. Residents of Puttur, Manjeshwara, Bantwal, Siddakatte, Moodabdri, Padubidri, Haleyangadi and Udupi can listen to our programmes.” The radio station set up with the initiative of Francis Serrao, former Rector of St. Aloysius College Institutions, will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily and Home Minister V.S. Acharya on September 23 at the college, which was established in 1880. *Value-based* “We produce programmes on agriculture, farming, health and hygiene, fishermen, children, women, healthy practices/habits among youth and other value-based programmes. Local cultures and folk arts are our focus areas,” Fr. Rego said. http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/14/stories/2009091450640200.htm ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] location, location, location
While responding to someone who wanted a list of operational community radio stations in India, it occurred to me that hardly any of the official documents on the subject -- except the occasional PIB press release -- mention the location of the CR Stations. As a general principle, if an educational institution holds a CR license, one can be pretty sure that the radio station is located within the campus. But when an NGO holds a CR license, there is no guarantee that the radio station will be located within a thousand miles of the NGO's HQ. As many of us know from personal experience, getting information from a CR station can be an exercise in frustration, since the point of contact is usually someone in an NGO office in a city far far away. Strangely enough, it would be easy to locate a CR station using GPS -- or a compass and sextant -- since the latitude and longitude of CR transmission towers are minutely recorded. Very useful for aerial reconnaisance; not so useful for postmen. Purely from memory, I am listing below the location of several CR stations, as well as the location of the parent NGOs. Sajan - The Energy Resources Institute : Registered address: New Delhi; CRS location - Supi, Uttarkhand - Alternative for India Development : Registered address - Chennai; CRS location - Garhwah, Jharkhand - Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals : Registered address - New Delhi; CRS location - Sironj, Madhya Pradesh - The Society for Development Alternatives : Registered address - New Delhi; CRS location - Orchha, Madhya Pradesh - The Mysore Resettlement and Dev. Agency (MYRADA) : Registered address - Bangalore; CRS location - Budikote (Kolar District, Karnataka) - Deccan Development Society : Registered address - Hyderabad; CRS location - Pastapur (Medak District, Andhra Pradesh) - Dhan Foundation : Registered address - Madurai; CRS location - Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu - Sambhav Social Service Organization : Registered address - Gwalior; CRS location - Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
Re: [cr-india] CR Forum Membership
Dear Naimur, The Memorandum of Association of the Forum was posted on cr-india within days of the Forum's registration on 26 Feb 2008. As you know, these emails tend to vanish into List Archives. The Memorandum of Association and Rules Regulations of the Forum are available in the archives here: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/2008-March/008873.html http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/2008-March/008873.htmlThese documents are also available on the Forum's website, www.crforum.in.http://www.crforum.in MoA: http://www.crforum.in/memorandum-of-association Rules Regulations: http://www.crforum.in/rules-and-regulations The membership form can also be downloaded from the site. warm regards, Sajan - On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 12:14 AM, Naimur Rahman naimur.rah...@oneworld.netwrote: Hi Stalin, In line with the principal of transparency we all advocate, I would expect that the article of association of CRF India would be available in public domain. Would you please send me the web-link of this document? Thanks, Naimur Naimur Rahman Director, OneWorld South Asia MD, OneWorld Foundation India *New Delhi** - 110016INDIA* Tel: 91 11 41689009 -- *From:* cr-india-boun...@sarai.net [mailto:cr-india-boun...@sarai.net] *On Behalf Of *Stalin K *Sent:* 11 July 2009 23:19 *To:* cr-india *Subject:* [cr-india] CR Forum Membership Dear all, Community Radio Forum-India is a registered association of community radio broadcasters, researches and advocates in India. CRF members have played a significant role in shaping and drafting the new CR policy currently in place. CRF believes in the power of community radio, is committed to democratization of India’s airwaves and works to enable community organizations to set up their own Community Radio Station. The CRF, being a membership based organization, is the only representative body of CR practitioners in India. We are currently accepting individual and institutional members to the Forum. *Institutional Membership:* Any ‘Not for Profit’ organization registered under Societies Act, Trust Act, Section 25 Companies Act, etc, who are practicing and/or promoting the concept of Community Radio within the value framework of CRF: “of the community, by the community and for the community”, and appropriately reflected in the management and ownership structures of its Community Radio Station (CRS). *Annual membership fee: Rs.1000 * *Individual Membership:* Community radio broadcasters, community radio programmers, researchers, activists, engaged in and/or interested in promoting Community Radio within the value framework of CRF: “of the community, by the community and for the community”. *Annual membership fee: Rs.300 * If you are interested, kindly write back to us and we will send you the membership form, objectives, rules and regulations of the Forum. Warm regards, Stalin K. Convener, CRF-India ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
Re: [cr-india] FM players in NE seek swift fee structure relaxation
On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 11:16 PM, Vickram Crishna v1cl...@yahoo.co.ukwrote: [Radio stations in the North East have to pay an annual fee of around Rs one million and have to bear an additional cost of Rs 3,00,000 annually towards tower maintenance.] Interesting. To whom is this fee paid? It must be a very massive tower to even cost that much, much less need that amount of maintenance annually. It's paid to Prasar Bharati. Private FM stations have to use AIR and DD towers (wherever available), otherwise BECIL is supposed to build Common Transmission Infrastructure (CTI) The annual rental maintenance fees on these towers range from Rs.13.2 lakhs in metro cities to Rs.1.75 lakhs in smaller towns. As you can imagine, this is a major grouse with commercial FM operators. To quote the business head of HT Radio, Prasar Bharti should reduce infrastructure rents. BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd), which has been mandated to build common infrastructure by the government, has done a shoddy job after collecting a good amount of money from all radio stations. [This cost is multiplied according to the number of towers owned by the radio operators.] Multiplied by the number of towers? Does this mean that private FM stations are allowed to operate multiple transmitters? It's just one transmitter per radio channel, even in the North East. I think the journo means number of radio channels owned by the operators, not the number of towers. Logical though this is for anyone wanting to broadcast in hilly terrain, it hardly matches what we are given to understand are the tc of radio station permissions. As a matter of fact, I have read that the AIR plans to seed the North East with over 100 low power transmitters (100 watt) in this Plan period, to cover uncovered areas. I'm not sure this privilege will extend to private FM operators, though, or to CR. If this was allowed to CR stations, we could bring our hardware setup costs down to near nil. The government has a fetish for giant towers -- it's a phallic thing. -- *From:* Jaisakthivel ardicdxc...@yahoo.co.in *To:* dx india dx_in...@yahoogroups.com *Sent:* Tuesday, 2 June, 2009 13:51:41 *Subject:* [cr-india] FM players in NE seek swift fee structure relaxation FM radio operators in the north east are lobbying hard to get their voice heard - one of TRAI's recommendations last year on third phase of private FM radio broadcasting in 2008 was the relaxation of fee structure for North-East and Jammu and Kashmir. The players, particularly in the north east, are now hoping for approval of the proposal by new Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni. TRAI had recommended that the rate of annual fee be reduced to 50 per cent of what is being charged from all the existing permission holders in other areas, for private FM radio broadcasters in North east and Jammu and Kashmir region for an initial period of three years. Apart from this region specific recommendation, it was also proposed that the minimum annual fee for a district be calculated based on five per cent of reserve OTEF (One Time Entry Fee) across India. Says Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI) president and Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit, “This proposal has been part of the original recommendations where we believe that certain markets are difficult markets to operate in and will not be in a position to generate high revenues. At the same time, it is important from a community and social perspective to have FM stations there, thus we are asking for special license fee sanctions..” Agrees Radio Misty CEO Nishant Mittal, who operates stations in Siliguri and Gangtok, “This exemption will be beneficial to radio stations in North East regions as we face a lot of problems because of our demography. Due to the hilly terrain, the coverage area is very limited and as this region is sparsely populated, the listenership is limited. Although the advertising in this region is increasing gradually, the return on investment is limited so, dispensation of annual fee would be a breather.” Radio stations in the North East have to pay an annual fee of around Rs one million and have to bear an additional cost of Rs 3,00,000 annually towards tower maintenance. This cost is multiplied according to the number of towers owned by the radio operators. According to Radio High managing director Milon Chakrabarty, who runs stations in north Bengal, “It would be difficult for radio stations in these regions to survive if the present annual fee structure is continued. The annual fee amounts to about 60 per cent of.. http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/fm-players-ne-seek-swift-fee-structure-relaxation - Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India Cricket on your mind? Visit the ultimate cricket website. Enter http://beta.cricket.yahoo.com ___
Re: [cr-india] 5 new community radio stations in Tamil Nadu
Dear James, As you can see, the article does say that a 'Rural People Development Association' is setting up a radio station in Madurai. I'm sure they meant PARD. What's the status of your CR application? You say that you are waiting to sign the GOPA, but have you received your frequency allocation and SACFA clearance? warm regards, Sajan On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 8:56 PM, pardmadu...@eth.net wrote: Dear Sajan, Greetings from PARD. Dr.R.Sreedhar, Director of Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia should have mentioned our organisation that is going to start Community Radio. We are People's Association for Rural Development and we are going to start our programme from Thirumangalam in Madurai District. We are waiting for the signing of GOPA still. Thank you for the information. With warm regards, James. Thanks to George Lessard for the link] 5 new community radio stations in Tamil Nadu Express News Service, 8 May 2009 TIRUCHY: Five more community radio centres would be set up in Tamil Nadu soon, said R Sridhar, director of Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) here on Thursday. Sridhar told reporters that 18 out of the 44 community radio centres across the nation were funded by the Department of Science and Te chnology. Among the stations, 14 undertook science programmes for women and four broadcast programmes of ‘save earth’ concepts, he said. There are six such stations in TN, including two stations in Chennai and Coimbatore, one in Tiruchy and Puducherry. The Rural People Development Association would establish new stations in Madurai and another one would be established at Nagapattinam. Permission was granted to set up stations Namakkal, Tiruchencode and Kumarapalayam. More than 20 applications have been received from educational institutes and NGOs. Indira Gandhi Open University has started a six-month certificate course on the operations of community radio stations and Holy Cross College has been identified as the study centre. Training would be given on the organisation of the community radios, announcing and other radio-related activities, he added. - Original Message - From: sajan venniyoor venniy...@gmail.com Date: Sunday, May 10, 2009 7:52 pm Subject: [cr-india] 5 new community radio stations in Tamil Nadu To: CR India cr-india@sarai.net [Thanks to George Lessard for the link] 5 new community radio stations in Tamil Nadu Express News Service, 8 May 2009 TIRUCHY: Five more community radio centres would be set up in Tamil Nadu soon, said R Sridhar, director of Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) here on Thursday. Sridhar told reporters that 18 out of the 44 community radio centres across the nation were funded by the Department of Science and Technology. Among the stations, 14 undertook science programmes for women and four broadcastprogrammes of ‘save earth’ concepts, he said. There are six such stations in TN, including two stations in Chennai and Coimbatore, one in Tiruchy and Puducherry. The Rural People Development Association would establish new stations in Madurai and another one would be established at Nagapattinam. Permission was granted to set up stations Namakkal, Tiruchencode and Kumarapalayam. More than 20 applications have been received from educational institutes and NGOs. Indira Gandhi Open University has started a six-month certificate course on the operations of community radio stations and Holy Cross College has been identified as the study centre. Training would be given on the organisationof the community radios, announcing and other radio- related activities, he added. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=5+new+community+radio+stations+in+Tamil+Naduartid=yZDCjbk7GBk=SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==SEO= ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Bihar children being trained in community radio
Children being trained to produce radio programmes 29 Apr 2009, Sanjeev Kumar Verma, TNN PATNA: They do not carry the aura of tech-savvy children of metro cities. But these children from hinterlands of Bihar are on the way to achieve something, which would be first of its kind in India. A group of 35 children from Patna, Gaya, Lakhisarai and Samstipur districts are being trained these days to produce radio programmes. The goal is to set up community radio stations at the aforesaid places by the end of next year which would be run by these very children. A joint initiative of Azad Bachpan, a social organisation working for the cause of children, and Panos South Asia, an organisation of radio journalists of South Asian countries, the training includes things like news gathering, conducting interviews, script writing, editing, voice over, song and drama. Technical skills required for running a radio show too have been imparted to the trainee children. Selection of children, most of whom come from poor families, was done after weighing the trainees on various parameters like writing skills, oration etc. Four trainers have been invited from Tamil Nadu and Delhi who specialise in things related to production of radio programmes. We intend to broadcast programmes which not only address the issues concerning children's lives, but also produced by people of the same age group so that the programmes connect well with the target group, Azad Bachpan founder chairman Ajay K Singh told TOI. He said that radio still being the main source of information for over two-third of rural population in Bihar, the radio programme was likely to be successful in terms of reaching the target audience, majority of whom are still not aware of the issues concerning children. To begin with, the selected children would produce radio programmes which would be aired using the All India Radio platform. We have already booked a weekly slot and the first radio show is likely to be broadcast in June this year, Singh said and added that about 120 episodes of the programme would be broadcast. Our programmes would help in sensitising people about children's rights, said Baby, a trainee from Patna. Shivam of Lakhisarai is interested in producing a programme on Aids awareness, particularly among the adolescent ones. These children have exhibited extraordinary interest in learning the tricks of producing radio programmes, Singh said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Children-being-trained-to-produce-radio-programmes/articleshow/4460640.cms ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Maoist threat closes down Community Radio station in Nepal
Maoist threat closes down private radio PTI, Kathmandu, April 25, 2009 Radio Parbat, the only community radio operating in Parbat district of western Nepal has been shut down indefinitely due to threats by Maoists. The FM radio went off air after cadres of the ruling Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) threatened to detonate a bomb, according to the radio staff. A group of youths vandalised the main door of the radio's office and also warned of serious consequences soon after the Maoists staged a torch rally in front of the radio office. They telephoned us and threatened to bomb our office if we did not stop broadcasting, said Tulasi Ram Sharma, Vice Chairman of Rural Awareness Society that runs the radio. Sharma said Maoists have been issuing threats against them alleging that they dismissed employees and did not provide them remuneration. The Maoists have alleged that the radio management forcibly sacked its station manager Yaman Prasad Poudel and accountant Shanti Subedi. However, Maoist district secretariat member Bishnu Lamichhane has denied charges that it has issued threats. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetterid=298f37af-3889-4224-9c85-d15fea387d6bHeadline=Maoist+threat+closes+down+private+radio ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Nepal FM radio airs Bihar poll campaigns
Nepali FM aids poll campaigns The Asian Age, Patna April 11: For people in Bihar’s districts along the Indo-Nepal border, links with the Himalayan republic have been for generations what they call a beti-roti relationship — a deep-rooted rapport based on family ties and livelihood. Now the airwaves of Nepal’s mushrooming FM radio stations are taking these links forward when Bihar is in the throes of the Lok Sabha polls. FM radio stations in Nepal have come in handy for politicians in Bihar’s border constituencies contesting in the Lok Sabha polls to broadcast their advertisements and ensure their message reaches the voters in these backward places. Such advertising is relatively cheaper for the political parties and voters find them entertaining too. Nearly all major parties in Supaul, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Darbhanga and East Champaran have started using the Nepali FM radio stations for election advertising primarily beca-use of the vast popularity of the radio programmes in these constituencies. Nepali FM stations routinely broadcast programmes in the local languages of these constituencies — Maithili, Vaj-ika and Bhojpuri — apart from their staple Nepali. What’s more, unlike Indian FM radio, Nepali FM stations also broadcast news and they often have stories about Indian affairs. The Nepal government had allowed the country’s FM radio stations to broadcast news in December 2005. A typical election advertisement on the Nepali FM radio stations is in both Maithili and Bhojpuri languages and in the form of a humour-filled conversation often between two sisters-in-law or an old man and a politically aware youth. ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Mumbai gets Radio-active
MUMBAI GETS RADIO-ACTIVE Ayesha Nair, 5 April 2009, Mid-Day http://mid-day.com/news/2009/apr/050409-Bandra-Association-Community-Radio-Mumbai-news-Bandra-to-Mahim-activism-free-speech.htm Mumbai: Bandra association finally gets community radio sanctioned; empowers areas from Juhu to Mahim. It now has the license to talk and make its voice heard Next time you make a comment about the apathetic nature of the public, think again. The ever-active citizens from the Khar-Bandra-Santacruz area have pursued, and received, a letter of intent (LOI) to launch their own community radio station. This would not be the first community radio station in the country but definitely the first of its kind in the city. Many educational institutions, NGOs and civil society organisations across the country run community radio channels. The Mumbai University runs a successful community radio station on 107.8 FM. FROM MAHIM TO JUHU Union Park Residents' Association (UPRA) is a step closer to receiving a license to begin their community radio station. They hope to have the station, which will beam from Pali area, up and running by June. Their frequency would cover the area from Mahim to Juhu. Traditionally, a community radio service caters to the interests of those within a certain geographic area and fill in the need for localised information that large radio stations overlook. However, the intent is to make listeners aware and keep them informed about the happenings in their area. 13-14 AGENDA-DRIVEN SHOWS The basis of UPRA's community radio station is similar. Says senior citizen Navin Chandra, who is spearheading this initiative, We have 13-14 varied programmes that will concentrate on issues like water and electricity conservation, health, and education. Radio jockey Brian Tellis who is putting together content for the station, says, The language of communication will be English, Hindi and Marathi. Programmes will be geared towards the environment, city and how we can respect the space we live in and better it. Environmentalist Darryl D'Monte says it will give a voice to the people: Decision makers need to listen to them (the public). Ward officers can hardly look at a website. Corporator Adolf D'Souza thinks the radio station is a way forward: Like any means of communication, it's a powerful medium. People want to know what is happening in their locality. It is also a novel way of keeping people informed and definitely a step forward. MP Priya Dutt who has supported this initiative believes it is a great platform for people to communicate with their representatives and have discussions with leaders. Electoral awareness can be created. People can be made aware of the role of the corporator and the MLA. They can also have discussions with electoral representatives, she says. Keeping authorities in check A radio station of this nature will help keep authorities in check. Listeners would be aware of issues like roads who are the builders, contractors, what is the deadline and what progress has taken place, thus ensuring credibility and swift work. The station might have the backing of a political leader but Tellis says that it will not have a political agenda or political affiliations. Entertainment might find its way on to the station but it would not be entertainment for entertainment's sake. He also hopes that the famous names that reside in Bandra and Juhu will come on board but reiterates that it would be agenda-driven and not personality. BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER Like the name suggests, community radio plays an important part in bringing together the various sections and communities that are their listeners. The Mahim-Juhu area which will receive this station has a variety of communities and those involved with the station hope to bring them together. Tellis says, The purpose is to build community. It will reach out to all demographics and communicates with the different strata of society. However, there is skepticism about the initiative as well. Activist Teesta Setalvad says, If it is consistent and effective it can become a pressure group but the question is, would it be an inclusive one that caters to all sections of the neighbourhood community or only one? Are such associations concerned with salaries we pay our domestic help? What about provident fund and medical? Are they bothered about the conditions of work for the panwalla and the dudhwalla and schooling of their children? That would be a truly inclusive community. THEY NEED MONEY Since the dynamics of the listeners is varied, basing it on an exciting model of a community radio station would not have worked in their favour. So the model was built to suit the interests of these communities. However, a fair bit of research was undertaken and social surveys were conducted, says Tellis. The process, though, was tough. The letter of intent was granted after a year of application. Chandra says, It is quite a difficult and time-consuming process.
[cr-india] Community Radio - the voice gets stronger
*Community Radio - the voice gets stronger* By: Anita Iyer, RadioandMusic.com, 16 Mar 2009 It's been barely some months since community radio took off in earnest in the country - 36 campus-stations and three NGO-led CR stations - are currently on air. The medium, however, appears to have touched a chord with the communities they serve. Community Radio Stations like the MVSS led station at Satara, Bundelkhand Radio at Orchha and the Deccan Development Society DDS community radio station at Pastapur, Andhra Pradesh, have become the voice in rural areas enabling local citizens to raise their opinions on issues pertaining to the community For the complete story, go to http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/special-reports/community-radio-voice-gets-stronger Sajan ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Submission of Baseline Survey Report for setting up a Community Radio Station - revised guidelines
[Thanks to Uday Godbole for this alert] The IB Ministry has revised its guidelines for Submission of Base Line Survey Report for setting up a Community Radio Station - http://mib.nic.in/CRS/base.pdf (The full text of the ministry Order dated 6 March 2009 is given below). 1. CR applicants can now submit the Survey Report after receiving the Letter of Intent, but before signing the GOPA. However, they must submit a 'vision document' along with the Application, to demonstrate their familiarity with the community to be served. 2. The Survey Questionnaire http://mib.nic.in/CRS/SurveyQuestionnaire.pdf currently posted on the ministry's website is 'under revision'. Before it is replaced with something equally surreal and inadequate, I request the CR Forum to offer a better one. While I appreciate the ongoing debate on the relevance of quantitative surveys, unless the the CR licensing process is radically changed, the survey is here to stay. The best we can do now is to limit the damage. To quote a recent interview with the Secretary (IB): Qn: There are also reports that it is mandatory for licensees to conduct a survey among respondents before a license is given to them?** *Ans: *Yes. The basic principles of the CR Guidelines do specify clearly that: “The CRS to be operated by an organisation should be designed to serve a specific well-defined local community and the programmes for broadcast should be relevant to the educational, developmental, social and cultural needs of the community”. Unless a demographic survey is conducted by an organisation, it will be difficult to assess the requirement of the target community of the CRS. The Survey Questionnaire is being revised to make it more purposeful. 3. The ministry has published a list of 39 CR applications that were rejected, no reasons given: http://mib.nic.in/CRS/rejected.htm In certain cases, like the Zila Panchayat Chhatarpur (category - Zila Panchayat) and Office of the District Organizer, Tribal Welfare Dept., Govt of MP (category - District Collector), the rejections are probably self-explanatory. Sajan No.803/105/2009-CRS Ministry of Information Broadcasting Broadcasting Wing 6th March 2009 ORDER Subject: Submission of Base Line Survey Report for setting up a Community Radio Station - for information to all applicants It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry that the applicants were finding it very difficult to furnish the Base Line Survey Report as per the Survey Questionnaire given by the Ministry on its website at the time of submission of application for setting up a Community Radio Staiton. 2. The matter has been consisdered in the Ministry and it has been decided to simplify the survey proforma which is accordingly under revision. 3. The applicants will be required to furnish the detailed Base Line Survey Report after issue of Letter of Intent (LOI) but before signing the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA). However, a basic familiarity and knowledge of the community to be served as well as the issues which the CRS will focus on must be reflected in the in the application in the form of a vision statement and may be articulated at the time of presentation before the screening committee. (Signed) Abhilaksh Likhi Director (BD) Tel: 23385016 --- On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:21 PM, uday godbole uday...@yahoo.co.in wrote: TO all Very Very Good News from MIb Uday Godbole ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Regional Consultations for Community Radio Awareness, March 2009
I understand that a Regional Consultation on CR Awareness is being held in Himachal Pradesh on 13-14 March and another one in Raipur (Chattisgarh) on 24-25 March 2009. While participation in these awareness workshops may be by invitation only, we'd appreciate it if members of this list who are aware of such events would share their information with the rest of us. I believe that's why this list was set up. Sajan Venniyoor List Moderator ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Radio Bundelkhand hosts training sessions for CR stations
Radio Bundelkhand hosts training sessions for CR stations 4 March 2009, RadioandMusic.com MUMBAI: Orchha based community radio, Radio Bundelkhand 90.4, an initiative by Development Alternatives, has organised a three day training programme from 3 to 5 March 2009 for CR stations. A tool to empower communities, it has been hosted by Radio Bundelkhand in technical cooperation with UNESCO and its partner organization, Maraa - A Media Collective. The current training course, which is expected to equip participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop a community radio station, will be imparted by experienced staff from Maraa. The course aims to clarify the concepts related to community radio, explaining the government policies and providing a tool to develop basic production and post-production skills. About 20 participants have registered for the paid workshop including development professionals from NGOs, officers from central and state governments, representatives of academic institutions and international development organizations, as well as individuals who want to set up their own community radio stations or to support existing community radios. The participants will be provided with training material accompanied by the following Unesco publications - How to do community radio: a primer for community radio operators, Community radio in India, CR (Community radio): a user's guide to the technology; a guide to the technology and technical parameters of community radio in India, and Digital archiving of audio content using WINISIS and Greenstone software: a manual for community radio managers. The initiative is a step to make Radio Bundelkhand as a permanent training centre for community radio orientation programmes in India. Radio Bundelkhand is amongst the first three community radio stations approved and licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under its new Community Radio Policy. Apart from the funding from Delhi based NGO Development Alternatives, UNESCO supported the station with equipment and training. ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] two lectures on Radio at CCMG, Jamia Millia, Delhi -- 2 March
The Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, is organizing two Lectures on Radio on Monday, March 2, 2009, 2.00pm to 4.45 pm at Yasser Arafat Hall, Jamia Millia Islamia. 1. A New Kind of Imperialism: BBC World Service, post-partition India, and the Geopolitics of the Cold War by Dr. Alasdair Pinkerton, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, University of London 2. Broadcasting the Border: Radio in the Ladakh Himalayas by Dr. Ravina Aggarwal, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Smith College, Northampton, Massachussets,, USA (Attendance is by invitation, but these lectures are usually open to anyone who looks moderately civilized. If you are not sure, please contact Prof Biswajit Das, Director, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi – 110025. Tel: 011-26933810 / 26981717 Ext 4500). Sajan ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Community Radio Station to Start in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh - PIB press release
Community Radio Station to Start in Vidisha, Madhya PradeshFebruary 26, 2009 - PIB Press Release Ministry of Information Broadcasting, Government of India, has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement on 25th February 2009 for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Sironj Tehsil, Vidisha District, Madhya Pradesh with Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), a Delhi based NGO. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Organisation after screening by a Screening Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community radio station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. This brings the count of total Community Radio Stations sanctioned by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to 107 which include 34 NGOs, 45 Educational Institutions, 9 State Agricultural Institutions and 19 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). Sironj Tehsil is a part of Malwa region having black cotton soil plains. It is famous for its Calicos and Muslin. As per 2001 census, Sironj has a population of 42,100 with 53% males 47% females. Sironj has a literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5% with male literacy 62% and female literacy 47%. Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), New Delhi is a professional, “not for profit” organisation with a wide network of agriculture allied sector professionals in India and the SAARC countries. It has 15,000 members, including 1500 Agri-Experts, about 1700 Disseminators, 900 Partner NGOs, more than 1000 Researchers, and a large number of Agriculture Journalists amongst others. The Ministry encourages setting up the Community radio Station as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes. ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] CRF mulls forming consortium to approach ad agencies
CRF mulls forming consortium to approach ad agencies Anita Iyer, 16 Feb 09, www.radioandmusic.com MUMBAI: The Community Radio Forum is thinking of forming a consortium to approach ad agencies to collectively negotiate for ad rates for CRS operational in the country. The third annual meet of the Community Radio Forum, a representative body for community radio broadcasters, was held at the offices of Radio Bundelkhand, an intiative of Development Alternatives at Orchha, Jhansi on 14 February. At the meet, it was resolved to change the modus operandi of the working of the CRF, and it was decided that CRF be instituionalised rather being a loose network. From now, the CRF will be a pan India organisation, and the core team will include representaitves from as mnay states as possible, it was resolved. The earlier meetings have been held in Delhi in 2007 and in Bangalore in 2008. The Orccha meet was attended by representatives of existing community radio initiatives in the country including the Kutch based KMVS, Radio Dhadkan, TRF and the radio initiative by the IGNOU. The day long session was divided into open house discussions about financing procedures for CR and technology required to run it. Currently, there are three operational NGO-led CR stations - the MVSS led station at Satara, Bundelkhand Radio and the DDF community radio station at Pastapur, and about 36 campus-stations in the country. The meet also marked the successful completion of three and half months of being on air for Radio Bundelkhand. http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/crs-mull-forming-consortium-approach-ad-agencies ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Frying the wires, freeing the waves
Frying the wires, freeing the waves Edwin Jurriëns, http://insideindonesia.org/content/view/1177/47/ Grassroots organisations in Indonesia are building communication media from the most basic of utensils While Indonesia's big cities are saturated with many types of media, media fare at the village level is often quite limited. In response, several grassroots organisations have begun building a more participatory communications infrastructure, relying on advances in technology to provide community television facilities and cheap wireless Internet. Like existing community radio, theatre and print media already scattered across the archipelago, these new media have emerged as an alternative to government and business-controlled Internet and television programming. In 2000, residents of Timbulharjo village in Bantul, Central Java formed the organisation Angkringan, named after the Javanese term for 'food vendor', to build a media infrastructure that would meet the information and communication needs of their community. Starting with an eight-page print bulletin of local news and entertainment, within half a year, Angkringan expanded into community radio broadcasts. During the parliamentary elections of 2004, the organisation used mobile screening facilities to air information about the elections. And in 2007, Angkringan began work on establishing a local Internet network, called AngkringanNet, for Timbulharjo. AngkringanNet relies on the convergence of community radio broadcasting with wireless Internet technology. Using a community radio antenna, AngkringanNet transmits an Internet signal over the 2.4 MHz frequency, free of charge. The signal can then be accessed by anyone in Timbulharjo with a computer and a 'wajanbolic' antenna. Using wajanbolic receivers, browsing the Internet and sending e-mail is as easy as frying an egg The wajanbolic antenna is the key to the system: it is composed of an actual wajan, or frying pan, wrapped in aluminium foil and connected to a short tube. Once placed on a rooftop, tree or other elevated point, the linked WiFi USB stick can be connected to one or more personal computers. Users do not have to pay individual Internet connection fees, but can share the costs with other users, keeping the costs per household to only several thousand rupiah per month. Angkringan's wajanbolic antenna is based on alternative Internet technology pioneered by the Indonesian technology guru Onno W Purbo and students from Muhammadiyah University in Malang. Angkringan deliberately chose the wajan, a basic piece of cookware that can be found in almost every Indonesian kitchen, to put people with no prior exposure to modern communication technology at ease, and to make it clear that browsing the Internet or sending an e-mail was as easy as frying an egg. The choice can also be seen as a symbol of local resistance against business monopolies dominating the computer and Internet industries. AngkringanNet provides Timbulharjo residents with Internet links to the outside world as well as an Intranet exclusively for the community. Villagers are encouraged to understand and creatively engage with the technology, and move beyond simply being end users. The AngkringanNet web site makes available various Open Source software programs for villagers to use. They can also contribute to the Village Database, which contains information on local governance, economy, health and other issues. To date, 12 wajanbolic antennas have been installed in Timbulharjo. In various workshops, Angkringan has shared its ideas and experiences beyond their village with representatives of other Indonesian community media organisations. The Indonesian government, through the Department of Communications (Depkominfo), has also donated computer equipment and provided assistance in Internet training sessions. Angkringan plans to open its wireless service to locally produced community television broadcasts in the near future. Community content Members of Angkringan also helped establish the Association of Indonesian Community Television (Asosiasi Televisi Komunitas Indonesia, or ATVKI), an umbrella organisation of community television stations. Similar to Angkringan's wajanbolic philosophy, ATVKI defines its community television as 'from, by and for the people'. ATVKI members exchange technical information and give each other guidance on organisation and broadcast content. Not coincidentally, ATVKI was founded in Grabag village in Central Java, home of Grabag TV, one of the few active community television stations in Indonesia. Grabag TV was founded in 2005 by Hartanto, a lecturer from the Jakarta Institute of the Arts and native of Grabag. At the time, Grabag residents could only receive the commercial television channel RCTI, relayed from Jakarta by antenna because of the village's mountainous surroundings. Hartanto built a small studio, provided basic equipment, and organised training sessions on script-writing, filming and
[cr-india] Update on community radio stations in India - 2
There are now 41 operational CR stations in India, of which 38 are campus radio stations (see list below) Applications received (under new scheme) - 303 Applications rejected - 38 Applications being processed - 158 Letters of Intent issued (total) - 107 LIST OF OPERATIONAL CR STATIONS (31 JAN 2009) ** 1. Sri Venketswara Oriental College, Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh 2. Sri Vishnu Engineering College for Women,Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh 3. Deccan Development Society, Hydrabad, Andhra Pradesh - NGO 4. Indian Institute of Business Management, Patna, Bihar 5. Vivek High School, Chandigarh 6. AJK Mass Communication Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi 7. Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi 8. Jagan Institute of Management Studies, Rohini, New Delhi 9. Jagannath International Management School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 10. University of Delhi, Delhi 11. Sardar Patel University,Vallab Vidyanagar, Gujarat 12. Mudra Instt. of Communication, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 13. University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka 14. Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore, Karnataka 15. DC School of Management Technology, Kottayam, Kerala 16. The Society for Development Alternatives, New Delhi at Orchha, Madhya Pradesh - NGO 17. Vidya Pratisthan's Institute of Information Technology, Baramati, Pune, Maharashtra 18. Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra 19. Film TV Institute of India, Pune, Maharashtra 20. Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, Pondicherry 21. Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, Punjab 22. Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Banasthali.Rajasthan 23. India International Institute of Management, Jaipur, Rajasthan 24. Eminent T.T. Girls College, Diggi, Malpura, Distt.- Tonk, Rajasthan 25. Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 26. Kongu Engineering College, Erode , Tamil Nadu 27. MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 28. Erode Sengunthar Engg. College, Erode, Tamil Nadu 29. Holy Cross College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 30. Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 31. Peace Industrial School, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu 32. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 33. Aditanar College of Arts Science, Virapandianpatnam, Tiruchendur, Tamilnadu 34. Sunbeam English School, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 35. City Montessori School, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 36. CMS Degree College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 37. P.G.College, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh 38. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal 39. Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind, Bangalore 40. Mannvikas Samajik Sanstha, Satara - NGO 41. Institute of Management Studies, Noida ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
Re: [cr-india] First community radio station in Assam launched
I wasn't aware that the KKH Open University in Assam had a Letter of Intent, far less being ready to launch. What exactly is meant by 'launched'? Does applying for a CR license qualify as launching? Many reports on CR stations being launched are somewhat premature, if not abortive. Apparently, anything up to and including a vague desire in the Vice Chancellor's heart to start a radio station qualifies as 'launch.' I much prefer the conservative approach of All India Radio, where you can build and test all you like, but the station is 'commissioned' only when it is formally inaugurated and the fat lady sings. Sajan On Sat, Jan 31, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Alokesh alokeshgu...@gmail.com wrote: First community radio station in Assam launched Posted By: RnM Team30 Jan 09 10:58 IST MUMBAI: The first community radio station in Assam was formally launched at the Krishna Kanta Handique Open University in the state on 27 January. In his inaugural speech at the two-day sixth regional consultation on community radio awareness meet, state chief minister Tarun Gogoi said, It will usher in a remarkable revolution in the field of spreading the benefits of effective communication in the rural areas through community radio. In view of community radio station's importance in disseminating information to the rural folk, Gogoi said his government will provide assistance towards setting up of such stations initially in ten educational institutions of the State. The government will extend all possible help and assistance so that community radio stations become an effective tool for dissemination of knowledge to the community as a whole, he added. According to official sources, the station has the capacity to cover a distance of 10 km radius in air. The station will be initially managed with the support of the facilitating organisation, and it will gradually be handed over to the university, sources said, adding that the station would produce and air only the programmes designed and prepared by the university, according to media reports. Speaking on the occasion, Broadcast Development Director of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting PK Bisoi said: In India, the campaign to legitimize community radio began in the mid-1990s. This came as an inspiration to groups across the country, but to begin with, only educational (campus) radio stations have been allowed under somewhat stringent conditions. Krishna Kanta Handique Open University Vice-Chancellor Prof Srinath Baruah said the coming up of the first community radio station in the university will help disseminate knowledge not only in the educational sphere but also in the socio-economic sphere. Commercial FM radio stations have different objectives. Our motto is to educate the people and broaden their outlook, he added. http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/first-community-radio-station-assam-launched Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] Community Radio Forum Annual Meeting - Orchha, 14 Feb 2009
*COMMUNITY RADIO FORUM-INDIA * *invites all community radio broadcasters and enthusiasts to its 3RD ANNUAL MEETING on 14, FEB, 2009. 10 AM TO 6 PM at Radio Bundelkhand Community Radio Station TARAgram, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh * * More than two years after we managed to create space for people's organizations to apply for radio licenses, we only have two operational CR Stations in the this country. *According to the 30 Nov 2008 figures, the ministry of Information broadcasting has received 297 CR license applications, including 141 from NGOs and CBOs, 105 from educational institutions and 51 from agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras. 107 Letters of Intent have been issued, and 13 Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPA) have been signed. There are currently 38 operational radio stations in the country under the CR Policy of which two are CRs and the rest are Campus Radios. This is not the situation we had all envisaged while fighting to democratize our airwaves. There are many reasons for this dismal numbers. We intend to discuss some of these key reasons so that we could foster a true CR movement in this country. *Agenda*: Visit to Radio Bundelkhand; CRS experiences of Sangham Radio and Radio Bundelkhand; Programming for CRS; Copyrights and royalties; Ads, revenues and funding of CRS; Application procedures – screening committees, survey forms, expensive follow ups; CR in urban India – potential and disappointments; Nurturing and protecting true CR in India; *Venue*: TARAgram, Orchha Tigela, Orchha, Dist. Timkamgarh 472246, Madhya Pradesh. Tel: 07680-252866 *Confirmation*: Please send in your confirmations to Priya Panicker at * priya.panicke...@gmail.com*. Kindly let her know how many people from your organization would be attending and your travel schedules. *Contribution*: All participants are requested to contribute Rs.200 (per participant) at the venue. This is to cover the cost of lunch and teas during the meet. Development Alternatives, our host, has kindly agreed to take care of the cost of venue and will also host the dinner on 14th. *Travel*: Participants will need to take care of their own travel cost and arrangements. Orchha is a 20-minutes drive from Jhansi railway station. Please book in advance to get reservations. *Stay*:* *At TARAgram, Orchha DA has a dormitory with 28 beds. Please contact Wg. Cdr. Pramod Sahney of Development Alternatives at 09415031058. You can also stay in hotels in the city of Jhansi. DA recommends Sita (0510 2444690) and Srinath (0510 244) CRF sincerely appreciates all at Radio Bundelkhand and Development Alternative for hosting us. We hope that you would all take this opportunity to stay on for a day or two to learn more about Radio Bundelkhand (Please see note below). Looking forward to meeting you all. Stalin K. Convener, CRF-India *CRF-India is a registered society committed to fostering true community radio in India through trainings, advocacy, research and lobbying. CRF India represents the civil society organizations and individuals committed to the ethos of a community owned and managed media. * -- *Radio Bundelkhand at TARAgram, Orchha * Radio Bundelkhand 90.4 is an initiative of Development Alternatives in partnership with the communities of Bundelkhand, to give voices to the deprived and marginalised communities of Bundelkhand region of Central India. The project was initiated by DA in early 2007 with a mission of disseminating relevant information to the rural audience. It covers a radius of 600 acres. 90.4 FM seeks to promote development interactive communication. It aims at broadcasting * *The target community of the project are women, youth and men from marginalised caste and class of Bundelkhand, the central Indian Belt of Bundelkhandi (local dialect) speaking communities. * The goal *is to bring a progressive social change in the area of Bundelkhand. *The objective* is to provide a platform to the people of the region to gain wider access to information, understand their own needs, express their concerns, be heard and exchange ideas amongst themselves - all in their own language. * The activities* involve in the project are community mobilization, training of community reporters, construction of the station and installation of the equipments, formation of governing and management bodies, managing the operations of the station and making it sustainable. The major output of these activities is establishment of Radio Bundelkhand as ICT tool of villagers for voicing their own stories and concerns. The idea is to make it for the people, of the people and by the people of Bundelkhand. *How does the Radio Bundelkhand station work? *The purpose of this radio is to work along with our communities in the radius of the proposed radio station the communities and use this communication medium - to create awareness, give information, participate in local self governance and provide entertainment - all based on requests and
Re: [cr-india] Community radio - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear all, Please go through the wikipedia page on Community Radio and see if you can update it. Any additional information on existing and soon-to-be-launched CR initiatives would be welcome. Maybe our friends in Nepal and Bangladesh could add sections on CR in their countries as well. Sajan Community radio - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_radio Contents * 1 Vision, philosophy, and status o 1.1 Conceptions of community in the literature o 1.2 Models of community radio o 1.3 Growth in the area * 2 Examples by geographic area o 2.1 Australia o 2.2 Bolivia o 2.3 Canada o 2.4 Ecuador o 2.5 Hungary o 2.6 India o 2.7 Ireland o 2.8 Japan o 2.9 Jordan o 2.10 Philippines o 2.11 South Africa o 2.12 South Korea o 2.13 Sweden o 2.14 Thailand o 2.15 United Kingdom o 2.16 United States * 3 See also * 4 References * 5 External links o 5.1 National community radio federations ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
[cr-india] MVSS Community Radio station launched in Satara
Mhaswad CR station commences transmission 27 Jan 09, www.radioandmusic.com NEW DELHI: The ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that the Community Radio station at Mhaswad, Satara district in Maharashtra has commenced operations officially. Regular transmission from the Mannvikas Samajik Sanstha Community Radio station has begun from 26 January 2009. According to the ministry, The Community Radio station established at Mhaswad in Maharashtra will serve to establish agriculture related knowledge ICT network and knowledge delivery mechanism through community radio as an effective tool. It will help in capacity building of the community based organizations in the use of audio tool like community radio as a means for social economic empowerment in addition to laying special emphasis on the themes that support the poor and marginalized members of the local community in improving social conditions quality of their cultural life. Earlier on 20 July 2008, The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating the Community Radio station with Mannvikas Samajik Sanstha. While experimental transmission from the station at 90.4 MHz FM had started from 16 December 2008. http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/mhaswad-cr-station-commences-transmission ___ cr-india mailing list cr-india@sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
