One of the first broadcasts by C Rajagopalachari talks of the power of transformation that the radio wields. “AIR predates independent India and has been the conveyor of several momentous occasions in history. “Akashvani has been used as an opening for broadcasts in several other languages for years,” said former Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati. The Akashvani name was added in 1956.Following this the Vividh Bharati Service was launched in 1957 with popular film music as its main component. ![]() AIR began its journey on Jwhen the then colonial government renamed the Indian Broadcasting Company. ![]() The journey of radio in India started in June 1923 when the Radio Club of Bombay made the first broadcast. But by the afternoon news bulletin, broadcast at 4.05pm, the announcer had switched to Akashvani. Though AIR has been officially known as Akashvani - a name proposed by Rabindranath Tagore meaning “voice from the sky” - since 1956, both names were used in radio shows and broadcasts.Įven on Wednesday, the English morning news bulletin - broadcast at 8.15am - carried the All India Radio name in its introduction. “The aforesaid statutory provision, which has replaced the name of AIR with Akashvani, may be brought to the attention of all so that names and titles get in tune with the provisions of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, passed by Parliament,” the order said. The order, seen by HT and issued by the directorate general of Akashvani on May 3, said that all satellite messages will now be issued in compliance with the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, which defined Akashvani as the offices, stations, and other establishments that were a part of or under All India Radio. Our listeners have more of a connect with Akashvani and so we are ridding ourselves of colonial baggage that may have persisted,” said Gaurav Dwivedi, the chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, the parent organisation of Akashvani. “This was long pending and in line with the law which came into being in 1997. ![]() That journey ended on Wednesday, after the Union government ordered that the public broadcaster be exclusively referred to as Akashvani in all broadcasts and programmes - consigning to history the British-era name that had become synonymous with radio in India. Read here: PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 91 FM transmitters to boost radio connectivity For nearly nine decades, millions of people across India woke up to a bouquet of news bulletins, music shows and iconic jingles carrying the All India Radio (AIR) name, its phenomenal reach into the hinterland helping it grow into one of the world’s largest radio networks.
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