Switch it on: China Radio to start Tamil FM channel in India

Beijing: China Radio International’s Tamil service is all set to launch its FM station in India as part of its 50th anniversary this year. CRI Tamil, which broadcasts on shortwave in Tamil Nadu, is in talks with some FM stations in Chennai, said Cai Jun aka Vani, deputy director of the Tamil department of CRI in Beijing. “We have already been broadcasting on shortwave in Tamil Nadu. We are in talks with local FM stations in Tamil Nadu for distribution. This will establish our footing in the FM area there,” she says.[caption id=“attachment_770779” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Tune in to China Radio. Reuters[/caption] The Tamil service of CRI was started in August 1963. Headed by Zhao Jiang, the department comprises 18 members, including two Indians Maria Michael and Pushpa Ramani. Besides Tamil, CRI broadcasts in three other Indian languages – Hindi, Bengali and Urdu. Talking to a group of visiting foreign journalists here, CRI’s South Asia Centre Director Lou Hongbing said he was looking towards mobile radio to facilitate communication with India. “We are trying to introduce new means. We are interested in establishing a mechanism to share our resources – radio programmes, news,” he said. CRI Mobile was officially launched in 2009. It is China’s first multimedia English-language website optimised for mobile devices. Lou also expressed interest in introducing daily lives of Chinese to India audience by translating Chinese programmes. “We could explore further in terms of exchange of news. Links could be exchanged, we could hold collective activities. We could also provide content to media in India,” he said. Founded on 3 December 1941, the state-run radio station now offers its services in 63 languages that include some Chinese dialects. According to Lou, as mainstream media, we have to be more objective while looking at things. “Though there shouldn’t be any obstacle in terms of news, there will be no room for positive things if only the negative aspect is reported. Objectivity and fairness are what we perceive in our reports.” “Both in India and China, there is information explosion. So there is every possibility of false, fake or negative news in the light of fierce competition. To promote friendship, we need to do something. There should not be any confusion among readers, listeners and viewers,” he said. PTI