National Broadcasting Day: The journey so far
National Broadcasting Day is celebrated every year on 23 July to mark the first-ever radio broadcast in India that went on air from the Bombay Station under the Indian Broadcasting Company in 1927
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Broadcasting in India began about 13 years before All India Radio came into existence. In June 1923 the Radio Club of Bombay, made the first ever broadcast in the country. The Calcutta Radio Club came into existence five months later. Wikimedia Commons/ Pradeep Mohandas
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Once their parent company Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was liquidated, the Imperial Government formed the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years and then permanently from May 1932. Afterwards, it went on to become All India Radio on 8 June 1936. Here H Ramakrishnan reads the news. hramakrishnan.com
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Lionel Fielden was appointed the first Controller of Broadcasting in August 1935. Twitter/@AIRVADODARA
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The name Akashvani, which means voice or announcement from the skies, was formally adopted for the national broadcaster in 1956 and was based on a poem of the same name written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1938, for the inauguration of Kolkata’s first short-wave radio station, as noted by historian Chandrika Kaul. Wikimedia Commons
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Walter Kaufmann composed AIR’s signature tune. He was director at Akashwani in 1937. Facebook/airnewsalerts
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The radio had an immense impact in rousing Indians and allowing direct broadcasts from national leaders to step up the demands of Indian freedom in the pre-independence era. Youtube/Akashvani AIR
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Continuing the tradition of communicating with people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat is an Indian radio programme in which he addresses the people of the nation on All India Radio. Wikimedia Commons
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At one point of time radio was the only source of information and entertainment for the Indians. Here Debapratim Roy plays the sitar at All India Radio. Wikimedia Commons
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Far from being extinct, today, All India Radio (AIR) is the largest radio network in the world with 479 stations across India. The network reaches over 92 per cent of the area in India and is accessible to 99.19 percent of the population of the country. Twitter/ @AkashvaniAIR
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