BOMBAY (PTI): British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has plans to expand its Hindi radio service to India and diversify its transmissions into several Indian Languages as part of an overall effort to strengthen its network in south Asia, Editor of BBC’s south Asia report Alexander Thomson said last week. Addressing a Press conference here with BBC Veteran Mark Tully, Thomson said an FM transmission station would soon be started in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to beam radio broadcasts in Bengali and English. The setting up of an FM station in India would be explored in the new climate of liberalization, he noted.
Thomson said a new office with more staff was planned in Delhi for BBC Hindi service for producing radio programs in Hindi instead of the present practice of translating English broadcasts. Tully said British people would see more of south Asia with the New Delhi anit. However, the radio network would be spread to south India as well “as India is much larger than just Delhi.” Tully emphasized that nice BBC’s view was “not London or Euro Centric,” it was increasingly trying to engage services of regional journalists instead of “sending red-faced Englishmen from London.
Thomson said from April 4 this year, the duration of “South Asia report,” a 15 minute daily current affairs program on BBC world service radio, would be doubled to comprehensively cover hard news from the region, besides more business, development, environment and sports.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 11, 1994
