The programme to be aired for three hours during breakfast hours every day is aimed to catch listeners across South Asia. It will highlight news of the day as also provide indepth analysis of events and issues, BBC World Service new chief executive Mark Byford told presspersons here on Wednesday.

The launch week of the new service will feature an exclusive interview with cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar. Byford said it was his father who, as president of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, roped in Sachin to play for the county. "There are many supporters for Tendulkar in Yorkshire also," Byford said in a lighter vein.

Besides the star attraction of Tendulkar, the new service will also focus on local events and developmentsincluding the International Film Festival in Hyderabad starting next week where another Indian Shekar Kapoor will figure prominently as the man who has won world-wide acclaim as director of the film Elizabeth which is to be screened on the occasion.

Byford said BBC World Service has an audience of 140 million listeners across the globe weekly and radio in India has a great future parallelly with television. The radio programmes of BBC World Service will be a complementary parallel service to BBC World Television programmes, he said.

Byford said BBC World Service has an increased budget of 30 million pound sterling over the next three years and this will be spent for strengthening and enhancing news and current affairs coverage in English. He said estimates indicated that, from India, some 30 million people were listening weekly to the BBC World Service programmes and the number is likley to grow more in future.

Former BBC correspondent in India Andrew Whitehead will be one of the main presenters of theprogramme. Backed by BBC's vast news network, `The World Today' programme will be broadcast from 6 to 8.50 am local time on short wave frequencies 9410 (31m), 1955 (25m) 15310 (19m) kHz.

It can also be heard via real audio live and on command on the Internet at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice