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It's kids day out at AIR Calcutta on Sunday
Chandan Banerjee
Calcutta : This Sunday, the national radio will be taken over. Not by foreign interests or corporates breaching the takeover code. But by children. From Bande Mataram to "Adhibeshaner Ekhanei Samapti" (closing the transmission), everything will be in the sweet voices of children. This Sunday, December 10, children will capture the lions share of All India Radio's Calcutta A. The Calcutta station of AIR will feature and focus on children in the age group six-14 years from 5.55 am to 4 pm to celebrate the International Broadcasting Day for Children. AIR's station director, Mr Arun Biswas, said the national radio aims to show that good programmes can be made even without running after money. He said children's programmes aired over the last 70 years have produced a lot of talent who were well-placed in media later. "Shishu Mahal" and "Galpa Dadur Asar" have given thrown up quite a few artistes. On December 10, children will announce and anchor all programmes on the first and second transmmision. "Yes, allprogrammes will be by the children and for the children. Other stations will do the same, but the Calcutta station is giving maximum slots," Mr Biswas said. "Although the programmes will go on Calcutta A, the FM channel will likely to be linked for some slots".According to Mr Biswas, Calcutta A is the mother organisation and it is made for the hardcore public service broadcasting. FM's reach is limited - a radius of only 80km around Calcutta. Calcutta A covers the entire state.The day will feature "Pratyahiki", a popular live programme broadcast from 6.55am to 7.25am that focuses on a particular subject. The anchor reads out letters from listeners. On December 10, the subject will be children. Apart from that, Sunday's drama will also be for children. The children will meet celebrities from various fields such as the film director, Mr Tapan Sinha, the sarod maestro Pandit Buddhadeb Dasgupta and even the state's finance minister, Mr Asim Dasgupta. Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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